Brightstar Financial is re-launching Private Label as a specialist lending brand.
The brand was originally launched in the 1990s by Stephen Knight who went on to form GMAC-RFC in the UK.
The specialist distributor will now offer its introducing intermediaries access to the exclusive specialist mortgages.
Each product area has been designed by Brightstar alongside its lender partners to fill a gap in the market. The products will be funded by specialist lenders including Kent Reliance, Saffron Building Society and Castle Trust.
A number of building societies are also involved with the Mortgage Tailor product including Family Building Society, Bath, The Mansfield and Penrith building societies.
Initially, Private Label will offer four “unique” product areas: Self-Builder; Temporary Letter; Day One Re-mortgager and Mortgage Tailor.
The Self Builder is aimed at high net worth clients building bespoke properties.
Colin Field, chief executive officer at Saffron Building Society said: “We’re delighted to be making this highly competitive self-build mortgage available exclusively to Private Label.
“As well as offering a really competitive rate to help self-builders keep their cashflow under control during their build programmes, we also have an expert underwriter who is dedicated to assessing all self-build mortgage applications. This means that, along with Private Label, we can guarantee brokers and their clients a fast and efficient service.”
The Temporary Letter designed for the rising popularity of landlords wishing to let their investment property on a short-term basis via websites such as AirBnB and similar.
The buy-to-let deal will be available up to 75% LTV on properties worth up to £1m with higher values on referral. Borrowers need six months of track record or proof that they can service loans from personal income.
Matthew Wyles, executive director at Castle Trust Capital, said: “A weakening pound and the growth of platforms like AirBnB and Tripadvisor mean that the holiday rental market is booming. The recently published Holiday Property Investment Report declared that the UK has 165,000 holiday lets, with the average property generating double the annual rental income of a typical buy to let property in 2016.
“Many traditional buy-to-let mortgages do not accommodate short term rentals as they require an AST to be in place, so this product provides a fresh opportunity for landlords to invest in an attractive, high yield market niche. We are very pleased to be working with the team at Brightstar to deliver a product under the Private Label brand focussed exclusively on this high growth market.”
The Day One Re-mortgager allows clients to re-mortgage their buy-to-let property before the usual six-month period. This allows borrowers using different acquisition vehicles such as bridging loans to re-mortgage and raise funds within one day of legal completion. The re-mortgage is available up to 75% LTV with a £200,000 minimum loan size.
Adrian Moloney. sales director at OneSavings Bank, said: “We are delighted to partner exclusively with Brightstar on the re-launch of the innovative Private Label mortgage brand. We’ll be supporting the market challenger with our “Day 1 Remortgage” product which will allow customers the facility to quickly move recent purchases onto standard buy-to-let rates.”
The Mortgage Tailor is a collaboration of building societies who are set up to provide bespoke solutions within 48 hours. These include Bath Building Society, Family Building Society, The Mansfield Building Society and Penrith Building Society.
Brightstar has set up a process where residential mortgage enquiries are sent to their building society partners who review the enquiry and respond within 48 hours. All bids will be tailored and ‘priced for risk’ basis, Brightstar said.
Cammy Amaira, head of intermediary sales at the Family Building Society, said: “We’re delighted to be associated with Private Label and their innovation from the beginning. This offering is another welcome opportunity to help brokers write more non-traditional mortgage business, which is an area we specialise in. We look forward to working with them.”
Products will also be available through 27Tec, Mortgage Brain and IRESS sourcing systems and will be submitted by requesting an enquiry form or submitted via Brightstar’s own EasySource quotation and case tracking system.
Mark Lofthouse, CEO of sourcing system Mortgage Brain, said: “Private Label will offer borrowers new specialist mortgage options across a range of criteria and products. These will be available on Mortgage Brain’s sourcing systems enabling advisors to recommend them to their clients where the product best matches their needs. Mortgage Brain has over 200 criteria that can be selected to best match the client’s needs with the products available.”
Dave Miller, executive general manager (commercial), IRESS, said: “IRESS is a big supporter of specialist mortgage solutions, evidenced by the fact we have more than 20 specialist lenders on our mortgage sourcing system. It’s a growing market and we’re seeing a lot of innovation in product design, which is great. There is clearly a growing demand for the types of specialist mortgage products Brightstar are providing. We’re delighted to welcome them to IRESS mortgage sourcing and look forward to working with them as we continue to offer more customer choice and flexibility in this vibrant sector.”
Rob Jupp (pictured), CEO of Brightstar said: “Private Label is a tribute to Stephen Knight and his legendary former team, many of which are still involved in Senior Positions in the Mortgage Market. Private Label by Brightstar gives the trailblazing concept a modern, post MMR feel, whilst remaining as innovative and product challenging as its predecessor. Private Label will give our chosen partners reward for their brand loyalty with the UK’s leading specialist distributor as it will win their advisors business over their non Brightstar competition.”