The bank, acquired by RBS Equity Finance in January, has been originating commercial mortgage business since April this year.
Philip George, joint managing director at Link Loans, said: “By joining the bank we will be able to leverage our key strengths of product innovation and market leading service, and with access to retail funding we are able to deliver a wider range of even more competitively priced products.”
WLB said the bank plans to diversify both its commercial and residential lending and make Link a part of those plans.
Stephen Johnson, new business director at WLB, said: “We believe it is a business that will benefit greatly from being part of a specialist bank.”
“We are making a big statement of intent, as the Link product range has been radically extended to cover the whole market up to and including a 7.9% product for prime borrowers looking to raise up to £100,000.”
Link Loans was established in 2008 and was one of the few organisations to continue to secured lend during the credit crunch.
The provider aims to capitalise on borrowers’ restricted abilities to raise finance through remortgaging for home improvement; one-off expenditure or debt consolidation.
Whiteaway Laidlaw Bank will rebrand in the autumn and operate all lending and saving products under a single banner.
Rob Jupp, managing director of specialist distributor, Brightstar, said this is another indication there is a viable market in second-charges.
“The second-charge loan market is starting to re-emerge from a three-year state of hibernation and Link’s rates have already come down to 7.9%, so for clients on mortgage rates of 10 plus basis points, this is good news for clients who need to consolidate.”
