The rate is fixed at 3.39 per cent until February 2023 and the maximum loan to value is 60 per cent.

The product is available to borrowers aged 55 and above who are in receipt of retirement income, with no upper age limit and no maximum term.

“We’ve seen increased appetite from advisers for more solutions in the lending-into-retirement market. Fixed rate RIOs are still relatively rare in this emerging market, therefore this competitively-priced product could offer an attractive solution to our members and their customers,” said Stephanie Harman, specialist lending relationship manager for Sesame and PMS.

Buckinghamshire BS head of leading, Tim Vigeon (pictured), said: “Over the past 12 months we’ve found RIO mortgages to be a welcome addition for intermediaries who advise their clients in retirement planning.”

Hampshire Trust Bank 30-year deal

Hampshire Trust Bank’s specialist mortgages division has introduced a 30-year interest only loan.

“We’ve extended our proposition in response to demand, so that brokers can offer their clients interest only terms of up to 30 years. We understand that most borrowers will seek refinance after the fixed term, however with this change we can give borrowers confident that they have a finance solutions in place for up to 30 years,” said Alex Upton, sales director, specialist mortgages at Hampshire Trust Bank.

Craddock (pictured) will leave Bucks BS at the end of November and subject to regulatory approval will take over at Darlington BS in December.

He will succeed Colin Fyfe who announced his departure in March this year having been chief executive since 2014.

Craddock spent four years as Buckinghamshire Building Society’s chief executive, prior to that he spent time with both Allied Irish Bank and Barclays Bank in a 30-year career in financial services.

Darlington Building Society chairman Jack Cullen said: “We are extremely pleased to have appointed someone with this level of experience and calibre who shares the values of the society.

“We firmly believe that in Andrew we have someone who can lead the society to the next stage of our clearly-defined strategy.”

Craddock added: “I am looking forward to joining a thriving regional building society that has strong ambitions for the future.”

O’Keefe joining Bucks BS

Also subject to regulatory approval, Gerard O’Keeffe will become the new CEO of Buckinghamshire BS, joining from Royal Bank of Scotland where he has been head of complaints assessment and decision making as part of its GRG Remediation Project since February.

He too has more than 30-years’ experience in the sector, including as CEO of Allied Irish Bank in the UK.

Buckinghamshire Building Society chairman Robin Bailey said the mutual was delighted to have O’Keeffe joining.

“Gerard is joining us at an exciting time for the society,” he said.

“We believe he will bring a new perspective to our business, and with his wealth of experience he and the team will take the society to the next phase of its growth.”

Bailey also thanked Craddock for his time at the lender.

“Andrew has been a remarkable leader, developing the Bucks into a modern, successful and financially secure business and at the same time keeping our mutual ethos of putting our members at the forefront of what we do,” he said.

“We are extremely grateful for his efforts and the board and I wish Andrew all the best in his new role at the Darlington,” he added.

The lender, which entered the retirement interest-only market earlier this week, will direct any existing or new customers with equity release or later-life lending queries to Key.

Key Partnerships said it had seen a 46% increase in adviser enquiries in the first half of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017.

Buckinghamshire head of lending Tim Vigeon said: “We know that borrowing when you are older is a decision that needs to be considered carefully.

“Increasingly customers are looking at borrowing in later life and this partnership means any customer who enquires about equity release or has been identified as potentially benefitting from this option can be referred onto Key’s independent specialist advisers.”

Head of Key Partnerships Jason Ruse added: “The interest in the equity release market is growing rapidly.

“We are seeing increasing numbers of consumers trying to access independent regulated advice about equity release products as they consider their later life lending needs.”

Misconceptions continue

The deal was announced the same week as research from Moneyfacts found the vast majority of older people were willing to take out an equity release product without consulting an adviser.

Its survey found that two-thirds of consumers believed they had a clear understanding of lifetime mortgages, as more than two in five felt they could handle the market without advice.

Most notably, more than a quarter of those surveyed by the site said they would not trust an adviser and around one in 10 thought advice would be too expensive.

However, Retirement Advantage head of product and marketing Alice Watson believes the results show there are still misconceptions about how the market works.

“The findings in this research are a surprise. The equity release market has grown and evolved in recent years and yet a number of misconceptions still remain,” she said.

“The biggest barrier to equity release appears to be a perceived negative impact on inheritance plans. However, the breadth of products available now means that customers can mitigate, or even stop, the impact of compound interest roll-up.

“Customers can also choose a capital and interest repayment option, and pay off the loan over a shorter duration if they wish. These options offer customers the opportunity to protect their estate for future inheritance.”

She added that given the wide variety of products now available, and some of the misconceptions that remained, financial advice was vital to ensure equity release was suitable for individual customers’ needs.

Gillian Nickless, HR manager at the mutual, said: “We usually do a Secret Santa at our Christmas party, but this year as a staff we were keen to spend the money supporting a good local cause.

“We have been overwhelmed with the staff’s support for this initiative, donating household items such as duvets or sleeping bags or essential food and toiletries,” she continued.

Sheena Dykes, chair of trustees at Wycombe Homeless Connection, said: “Our key aim is to reduce the harms of homelessness. Our support centre is open every week day; we give out emergency food, clothing and bedding to those on the street and help people find or keep accommodation.”

Dykes continued: “We also run the Wycombe Winter Night Shelter during the three bleakest months of the year, so people have somewhere warm and safe to sleep.”

“We were so pleased when the society contacted us, it’s wonderful seeing local businesses getting involved to help their community and we always welcome the support,” she added.

The range includes a three year discounted rate at 3.49%  and a three year fixed rate at 3.99%. Both come with an application fee of £150 and a £999 product fee.

The lender has also launched a new range of products for individual landlords including a three year discounted rate at 2.69%.

Tim Vigeon (pictured), head of lending at the Buckinghamshire said: “Buying a property to rent out via a limited company can offer a number of advantages, and our manual underwriting process means looking at these types of cases is very much part of our business as usual process. We have also extended our range to help individuals looking for consumer buy to let and those who need alternative ways of assessing affordability.”

Earlier this year, research by Countrywide found one in five rental homes in the UK are now owned by companies.

Matthew Arena, managing director of Brilliant Solutions, said: “We only add to our incredible panel of lenders when we are able to work with a lender that brings further options for brokers and their clients alike.

“We are pleased to include Buckinghamshire Building Society in this regard. We continue to support brokers and their clients by finding quality mortgage products and making them available to directly authorised brokers throughout the UK, regardless of whether it is a direct to lender product or packaged only product.”

Julie Hanif, business development manager, said: “We have a range of specific mortgage products tailored to contract workers, residential home owners and buy-to-let landlords with more unusual circumstances where lending can be more restricted.”

The mutual is offering a pair of three-year products – one fixed and one discounted from its standard variable rate (SVR).

Both loans are available at a maximum loan to value (LTV) of 85% and carry a £850 product fee.

The three-year fixed rate is until August 2020 at 3.89% followed by the society’s SVR, currently at 4.99%. It includes early repayment charges of 3%, 2% and 1% in the first, second and third years respectively.

The variable rate product is at a 1.5% discount from the SVR, putting it at 3.49% at present. It includes early repayment charges of 1.5%, 1% and 0.5% in each of the three years respectively.

Buckinghamshire Building Society head of lending Tim Vigeon (pictured) said: “This is another product in our range aimed at helping those borrowers whose circumstances may not be straight forward and as a specialist lender we like to think outside the box when trying to help borrowers.”

The deal comes at a variable rate of 4.49% which is a discount of 0.5% off the standard variable rate and to a maximum loan-to-value (LTV) of 70%.

Buckinghamshire BS will accept one payday loan in the last 12 months and missed payments in the last three years provided none were consecutive or in the last three months. The mortgage is not available to the self-employed.

Further criteria accepted includes satisfied CCJs over six months old and under £500 in total and adverse credit provided it is supported by a life event.

Julie Hanif, business development manager for Buckingham Building Society, said: “We understand that credit scoring for various reasons can often disadvantage borrowers. However, as we take an individual approach using affordability and because of the criteria allowed on our new credit repair product, we will be able to help more borrowers get a mortgage.”

The move means that brokers can now access all of the society’s residential and buy-to-let products through the packager.

Buckinghamshire Building Society’s range of intermediary products includes a selection of non-standard purchase and remortgage deals, including fixed, tracker and discounted rates. The lender also has mortgages tailored to contract workers, self-builders and those buying a home under shared ownership, as well as catering for buy-to-let landlords.

TFC Homeloans managing director, Nigel Payne (pictured), said: “The mutual sector is fantastic at developing innovative mortgage products that meet the needs of niche sectors of the market, and Buckinghamshire Building Society does exactly that. Its wide product range is impressive and targeted at non-standard borrowers who might struggle with the large lenders.”

He added: “The Bucks is a forward-thinking mortgage lender and we look forward to working with its highly experienced team.”

Andrew Craddock, chief executive of Buckinghamshire Building Society, said: “We are delighted to have joined forces with TFC to support niche lending to customers with diverse circumstances. As a small specialist lender we are always keen to work with partners like TFC to help spread our message that we have products to suit borrowers in all situations.”

Over the last year TFC Homeloans has secured Home Finance permissions from the Financial Conduct Authority, allowing it to deal with mortgage products, regulated buy-to-lets and regulated bridging services.

It has also grown its operations with a number of appointments, including a key account manager to cover the north of England, two business development managers for north west London and north west England, and a director of commercial business to oversee sales across the south of England.

Its two-year range includes variable rates at two LTV bands, up to 80% LTV and up to 80-95% LTV. Its 80% LTV mortgage comes at a variable rate of 3.99%, while its 95% variable mortgage has a rate of 4.24%. Both mortgages come with a booking fee of £99 and arrangement fee of £599 and are available for purchase and remortgage.

The lender has partnered with Contractor Financials and Contractor Mortgages Made Easy to create the range, which will accept seven months’ experience within certain sectors.

The announcement follows shortly after Saffron for Intermediaries announced a three-year fixed rate range of occupational mortgages aimed at the self-employed, contractors and professionals. In November, Ipswich Building Society also launched a range of five-year products aimed at ‘mortgage misfits’.

Stewart Hunter, business development manager at the Buckinghamshire (pictured), said: “We are absolutely delighted to have the support of Contractor Financials and Contractor Mortgages Made Easy who have a significant presence and track record. Our product allows for periods of break between contracts as we know this market is different from those working in a traditional employed role.”

Luke Somerset, associate director at Contractor Financials, added: “Buckinghamshire Building Society’s policy supports a relatively underserved cohort of contractors, allowing those with a minimal track record to gain access to mortgage funding. With lenders seeking to break away from what remains a highly competitive rate driven market, it’s likely that many lenders will see contractors and other segmental lending areas as key to increasing lending volumes without slashing margin in the year ahead.”