Last week, Mortgage Solutions Online exclusively revealed that Beacon, which was the last remaining self-cert lender following Platform’s withdrawal on 4 November, pulled out as it could not extend its current funding line beyond February 2010.
An email sent to brokers said the lender would stop taking deals from Friday 13 November, and all outstanding self-cert deals had to be packaged and submitted by that date.
Beacon was unavailable for comment at the time of going to press, but told Mortgage Solutions last week that its self-cert range was under review.
Jonathan Cornell, communications manager at First Action Finance, said it was not surprised at the move because Beacon would have struggled to satisfy demand as the only remaining lender in the market.
He added: “It is a shame that Beacon has pulled out, but it did not have an infinite volume of funding. It may have anticipated too much demand for its products and the FSA’s proposal to ban self-cert may have cemented the decision to pull out.”
Ray Boulger, senior technical manager at John Charcol, said some self-employed people would now have serious problems accessing the market due to Beacon’s exit.
He added: “For people who really need a self-cert mortgage, the situation is pretty dire. It is another step on the road towards making it difficult for certain borrowers to access the market.”
However, speaking at the Mortgage Expo in London last week, Lesley Titcomb, director of the FSA’s small firms division, denied the regulator wanted to block the self-employed from the market.
Titcomb said: “We do not want to introduce anything that prevents people who can afford a mortgage and who can demonstrate that their stated income is genuine. We can think of no reason why the self-employed or a contract worker would not be able to verify their income.”
