Mint Property Finance starting journey to be a full-proposition lender – SLS In Focus

Mint Property Finance was launched in 2011, and has since grown to 40 staff, which includes eight underwriters.

It also recently secured a multi-million-pound block bridging facility from Aldermore, that Lazare said was a “significant development for the business and provides us with more firepower to write more business at competitive rates”.

Lazare said that its short-term goal was to “really bang the drum about our capabilities and experience in the market”, noting that it had lent close to £1bn of finance.

He added that its long-term goal was regulation and it had started the process of being able to provide regulated loans and long-term mortgages so it could position as a “full to market lender”.

“Our job is therefore to ensure that people realise that we’re established, we’re lending, we’ve good funding lines and can pick up other lenders’ loans and manage them to the highest of standards, thanks to our expert portfolio management team, which is committed to setting up all loans to succeed,” Lazare said.

Less experienced lenders could ‘fall away’

Lazare said that the long-term growth prediction for the bridging sector was “incredibly positive”, with the market currently valued at around £6bn.

He said that short-term lending had once been seen as an “expensive and complicated form of finance” but the entrance of challenger banks had pushed down rates and commanded high standards of service.

Consequently, the sector had become “more professional and accessible” and the perception of the industry was more positive.

This along with rising rates from mainstream bank and increased regulation has made specialist finance “more attractive”, leading to growth and new entrants.

“As the industry looks to navigate the current economic landscape, I think we can sadly expect to see a number of these and other less experienced lenders fall away.”

Lazare said that specialist lending arena was currently a “turbulent market”, which was an “opportunity and a threat”.

He explained that as the market tightened up smaller lenders that might have been “badly managed and have badly underwritten loans could fall by the wayside”.

Lazare said that “good lenders…with experience and longevity” would do well, adding that those that remained nimble and had “creative funding models” were “far better positioned to maintain that flexibility”.

Look for experience and certainty

He continued that a lot of lenders had not been through a recession and didn’t have experience of how funders would react, and that some lenders had already lost funding rounds and that was before their loan books were being tested.

He said: “Now is not the time for brokers and borrowers to be looking for the cheapest deal but looking for experienced lenders that can provide funding certainty, coupled with the expertise to help them navigate every potential obstacle.

“Whilst we don’t wish others hardship, we’re in a great place to effectively take advantage of the market, the demand for good quality lending that’s out there. Not changing our terms at the last minute, not increasing our rates once offered, just being honest and transparent.”

He added that the firm had “no restrictions on growth”.

Rise in development costs, site selection ‘problematic’

Lazare said that the rise in development costs meant that people were not as bullish in the market so the “amount of good quality origination out there is not great”.

Another key issue was site selection, as a lot of “big easy sites have been developed”, therefore finding great sites was “becoming more problematic”.

As a result, he said that it could be harder for the industry to put a value on the site.

He explained: “Yes, in theory, you can get planning, but someone then has to build it and in the current climate the risks are significantly greater. Put simply, good sites are decreasing in volume and alternative sites are getting harder to build upon, and thus the financing of them is more complex.”

Product innovation and research tools give ‘competitive advantage’

Lazare said that the firm was “committed to continuously innovating, creating products that meet the needs of our partners and borrowers”.

He added that, during the pandemic, the firm continued lending and grew its specialist product range, which allowed it to expand its presence nationwide.

Lazare said the company had “invested significantly” in “sophisticated research tools”, which along with team knowledge, close relationships with directors, borrowers, broker and professional introducers allowed it to forecast developments in the market and tailor its products.

This gives the firm a “competitive advantage” and along with manual underwriting and chartered surveyor and property law specialists meant it had a “market leading team who are most likely to say yes rather than no”.