Mortgage 1st brings out specialist lending arm

Specialist 1^st (The Mortgage 1st specialist arm) will be an appointed representative of Connect for Intermediaries, subject to approval by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and will be able to access its broad lender panel.

The brand will advise directly on complex buy-to-let, adverse credit, second charge lending, commercial purchases, development finance and bridging finance.

The firm will appoint an experienced specialist adviser, and several of the firm’s advisers will be dual authorised under the brand.

Mortgage 1st: Specialist arm a ‘sensible move’

Jon Stones (pictured), managing director of Mortgage 1st, said: “We always planned to establish a specialist arm under Mortgage 1st and after closely following market trends and conditions, this became a very sensible move to make as we enter 2024.

“As a company we are determined to keep moving forward, enhancing our service and overall offering to Mortgage 1st customers whilst providing our advisers the opportunity to enhance their own skillsets. Advisers need a comprehensive suite of lending solutions to keep up with the ever changing market and customer demand and this move will enable us to help far more clients directly.”

He added: “Connect have an excellent reputation within this sector, extensive lender panel and have been wonderful to deal with as we begin building Specialist 1st. Their close relationship with Stonebridge also made them the ideal choice for us & we are excited to be working closely with Liz, Kevin and the entire team at Connect.”

Kevin Thomson, sales director of Connect for Intermediaries added: “We are delighted to be working with Specialist 1st as they embark on their diversification into the specialist mortgage markets. We look forward to supporting the whole team at Specialist 1st and being with them every step of the way so they can achieve their growth ambitions.”