The Financial Intermediary & Broker Association (FIBA) and Association of Short Term Mortgage Lenders (ASTL) have confirmed a framework for their ongoing education programme for the commercial property finance industry, which is due to be launched later this year.
FIBA and the ASTL are working with the London Institute of Banking & Finance (LIBF) on the creation of a series of optional e-learning modules that will cover bridging, short term finance, development finance and specialist buy-to-let.
The modules will be recognised through the award of an LIBF digital badge and accredited for CPD purposes.
The confirmed framework provides information on the desired outcomes for the programme and the 10 modules that it will contain. The topics for these modules include:
- Overview of specialist property finance
- Basic knowledge of the constitution of a business – PLC, LLP, Sole Trader etc.
- Basic lending structures
- Risk and regulation
- Other parties involved in a specialist property finance transaction
- Bridging loans
- Development finance
- Commercial finance
- Buy-to-let mortgages
- The practical application of specialist property finance
The desired outcomes of the programme are to raise professional standards within the specialist property finance industry, improve understanding of the roles played by brokers, lenders and other professionals throughout the life of a loan, and to provide agreed levels of knowledge set by the industry as a base standard to provide customers with the best possible outcomes at all times. The programme will help ensure that candidates are able to define and explain different fundamentals of specialist property finance, including how it fits within the wider mortgage sector, and to identify and develop key learner skills.
FIBA and the ASTL are currently appointing authors for each of the modules in preparation for the launch of the programme at the ASTL Annual Conference in London on 20 October.
Vic Jannels, CEO at the ASTL, said: “I am very much looking forward to being able to launch our education programme for the commercial property finance industry at the ASTL Annual Conference later in the year. We have been working alongside our colleagues at FIBA for over a year now to build support and plan the details for such a programme, and being able to confirm the framework is an important milestone.
“We believe that the outcomes of the programme will provide advisers with a more holistic understanding of the whole process and make the borrowing experience more comfortable, and less mysterious, for consumers. We won’t be insisting that our members only work with brokers who have been through the programme, or that brokers only work with lenders whose employees have completed the course, but we want to encourage engagement across the industry, not just as a one-off participation, but as part of an ongoing environment of continuing learning.”
Adam Tyler, executive chairman at FIBA, added: “Confirming this framework is, I believe, an important moment for our industry. I have been involved in education for our sector for many years and this programme is successfully building upon a previous groundwork to deliver a collaborative initiative that is recognised as the definitive learning programme for commercial property finance.
“Working in conjunction with the ASTL and the London Institute of Banking and Finance, we have now developed the essential framework for the programme and we are now appointing authors for the modules, which will help us to deliver the right outcomes to participants, and ultimately to customers.”