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Buckinghamshire BS relaunches fixed rate deals; BuildLoan adds product – round-up

Anna Sagar
Written By:
Posted:
October 18, 2022
Updated:
October 18, 2022

Buckinghamshire Building Society has brought back fixed rate options for its joint borrower sole proprietor (JBSP) and impaired credit offering, which it says are two of its most popular specialist products.

The lender’s JBSP product is available on a five-year fixed rate term with a maximum loan to value (LTV) of 90 per cent.

The term is based on the applicant’s retirement age and maximum term available is 40 years.

The mutual’s impaired credit proposition comes with an improved maximum LTV of 70 per cent, up from 60 per cent previously, on an initial fixed rate period of three years.

Claire Askham (pictured), head of mortgage sales of Buckinghamshire Building Society, said: “As we all know, market conditions are extremely tricky right now, so launching a full range of fixed rate products isn’t something on our immediate road map.

“That said, one of the core purposes of our society is to help people achieve their dream of home ownership. We’ve looked carefully at our product range and identified these two niche areas of lending as areas we believe fixed rate offerings will be highly beneficial to our clients.”

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She continued to say that the mutual had continued to lend throughout these “unprecedented last few months” and it had done so with its full range of discount rate products.

Askham added: “We do understand however, that the priority for many of our borrowers on the JBSP and impaired credit products are looking for certainty with the cost of their repayments to assist them with budgeting, especially while we’re in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, which is why we’ve launched these products.

“Although we have no current plans to extend fixed rates across the rest of our product range, we will continue to innovate and update criteria where possible to ensure we’re offering practical solutions for complex cases.”

 

BuildLoan brings out advanced stage payment product with Chorley BS

Self and custom-build finance specialist BuildLoan has launched a new advanced stage payment product with Chorley Building Society, which will protect clients from risk of “cautious site valuations”.

The product is designed to mitigate the risk of a downvaluation disrupting a clients’ cashflow during the build.

The stage releases are agreed during the initial mortgage application and are not contingent on valuations during the build. This means customers know at the start that they will have the funds at the appropriate time.

Self and custom builders can borrow up to 85 per cent of their land and build costs and up to 80 per cent of the final value of their new home.

Chris Martin, head of product development and lender relationships at BuildLoan, said: “Our cost-based products really come into their own at a time when we expect to see downward pressure on property prices, which may lead to valuers taking a cautious approach to site values.

“The last thing a self-builder needs is for their cashflow to be disrupted by a low site valuation, which means they don’t get the money they need to progress their build. This new product provides a perfect solution – the funds are pre-agreed so the client knows exactly what they will get at each stage of their project.”

Stuart Bryce, head of business development at Chorley Building Society, added: “We are committed to supporting the self and custom-build sector as it provides an important contribution to generating the much-needed increase in construction of new homes.

“We’ve designed these products with BuildLoan to address the key issues that self-builders face. Providing funds upfront at each stage of the build provides a real boost to cashflow and enables many clients to build where otherwise it would have been impossible.

“With no need for any valuations during the build, the product also removes the doubt inherent in some self-build products which rely on the property being valued at each stage to determine how much money can be released to the client.”