The lender received its Authorisation with Restrictions (AwR) in October last year. It entered the market to cater to under-served borrowers, particularly people from the African diaspora and other foreign nationals who find it hard to get a mortgage in the UK because of their visa status or lack of credit history.
Afin Bank will also be open to other borrowers who may struggle to get a mortgage from mainstream lenders, such as the self-employed.
Its range includes options for first-time buyers, homemovers, a remortgage and a BTL product for people wanting to invest in UK property.
These will be available on fixed or tracker rates, and the BTL mortgages will be available to people who do not own any other UK property.
Lending will be available across properties in England and Wales.
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Alan Davison (pictured), chief commercial officer for Afin Bank, said: “Afin Bank will treat its customers as people who need help overcoming obstacles, whether it’s their visa status because they come from overseas, or the fact they are self-employed. Our focus is on helping more under-served borrowers get a home of their own.
“The feedback from brokers and customers as we have been building Afin Bank has been fantastic, so I am delighted that we have received our full approval in less than nine months and we can now start lending, helping people to move home, get the mortgage deal they deserve or get on the housing ladder for the first time.”
Afin Bank will accept applications from individuals originating from anywhere in the world and those with a minimum UK residency of six months. It will also be flexible around deposits from overseas, subject to anti-money laundering (AML) checks, and will allow capital raising for debt consolidation, property investment, business purposes and tax bills.
James Briggs, intermediary sales director for Afin Bank, said: “There are millions of borrowers who can find it hard to get a mortgage from a mainstream lender, perhaps because they’re self-employed and their current income does not reflect their previous years’ accounts or they have multiple income streams, or because they don’t have an established UK credit history.
“But they have important jobs with great income potential or are creating businesses; the kind of people the UK economy needs now, so they deserve to be supported. The human touch is at the heart of Afin Bank. Our focus is on understanding the customer’s needs, making common-sense decisions to offer them the most suitable mortgage. We will work closely with brokers and borrowers, using technology to bring speed, efficiency and certainty to our customer service and lending decisions.”
Afin Bank will distribute its mortgages through brokers and a Community Ambassadors Programme, where people in diaspora communities introduce others to the lender’s in-house mortgage advisers.
The bank will launch Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)-protected savings accounts in the coming weeks.
