Kensington Mortgages is to become the Northview Group’s principal brand.
The retirement of the New Street brand for new mortgage applications will occur at the same time, with the brand’s buy-to-let offering now coming under Kensington Mortgages.
Kensington has expanded its lending criteria and introduced ‘top-slicing’ to allow personal income or income from other properties to be used in affordability assessments.
The proposition will be available to customers via intermediaries from 24 July 2018.
Craig McKinlay, head of sales and marketing at Kensington Mortgages, said: “We always look for ways to enhance our business and brands, and ensure we provide our customers and brokers with an effective, competitive and simple proposition that makes sense to all whilst reflecting our level of ambition and growth. Recently, this has led us to focus on enhancing Kensington’s buy-to-let proposition, as well as further investment in Kensington’s sales team.”
The decision to bring New Street’s proposition under the Kensington Mortgages brand follows market feedback and is intended to create a single, simplified principal lending brand that is easier for brokers to do business with.
Features and products of New Street will be incorporated into Kensington’s buy-to-let proposition, including simplified rental calculations.
The retirement of the New Street name will not result in any personnel changes at The Northview Group, with all New Street employees moving to the Kensington Mortgages brand. New mortgage applications for New Street Mortgages will no longer be accepted from 24 July 2018, but existing customers will continue to be serviced under the New Street brand.
McKinlay added: “We believe simplifying our distribution strategy by focusing on Kensington’s award-winning buy-to-let offering is the best approach going forward. As a top UK specialist lender, we have responded to the recent changes in the buy-to-let market and this move allows us to provide a simple, easy to use service for our brokers and customers alike.
“For brokers who have any queries on their New Street accounts, please visit the New Street website to be kept up-to-date on recent announcements.”