The company had already carried out a three-month pilot programme with the proptech firm, which is the UK’s first AI-powered valuation company to be regulated by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
Tracey Bailey, chief operating officer at Gatehouse Bank, said the bank observed a marked improvement in the customer journey, with turnaround times during the valuation process reduced by up to 600% during the pilot.
Bailey (pictured) said: “We know how important it is for customers to receive accurate, efficient and speedy property valuations during the home buying process, without compromising on high standards of customer service and confidence.
“We are delighted that our pilot programme with Finvise has been so successful in helping us to provide an enhanced service to our home finance customers and that we are now in a position to integrate this into our valuation process more widely.”
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A hybrid model
Rather than working as an automated valuation model (AVM), where valuations are purely done via algorithm, Finvise is a hybrid valuation platform. It uses AI technology, but overseen, reviewed and signed off by a RICS surveyor.
Finvise said this allows the business to produce high-quality reports while still achieving faster, more efficient results for customers.
Hayley Lemm, co-founder of Finvise, said: “At Finvise, we recognise the benefits of integrating AI with human expertise and are very pleased to be working with Gatehouse Bank to ensure their home finance valuation systems are set up for success and for the future of innovation in financial decision-making.
“We can’t wait to grow the partnership and support the team in their mission to provide Sharia-compliant home finance products that suit the needs of customers across the UK.”
Going for growth
Gatehouse Bank’s home purchase plans (HPPs) provide a Sharia-compliant alternative to traditional home loans. They allow buyers to purchase real estate without paying or receiving interest (Riba), which is strictly forbidden in Islamic finance. Instead of lending money to buy a house, Gatehouse Bank buys the property jointly with applicants and rents their portion back to the borrower.
Gatehouse Bank said that, for customers, the Finvise platform can be used for property valuations to support HPP and buy-to-let (BTL) applications from UK customers looking to buy or refinance a property valued up to £1m, with a finance to value (FTV) of up to 75% for property purchases and 80% for refinancing.
The company has made a number of changes as it grows its portfolio and offerings to customers. Recently, it entered an agreement with fintech firm Algbra to give overseas buyers access to finance.
The bank announced last week that its sister business, Gatehouse Capital, was formally launching into the bridging finance market.
