Brokers rate complex Buy to Let lenders as more flexible than any other mortgage sector according to Smart Money People
22 July 2021
Research by Smart Money People, the leading financial services customer review and insight website, has found that brokers consider complex Buy to Let lenders to be the most flexible with mortgage applications compared to any other mortgage sector. Buy to Let complex applications include Commercial Buy to Let, Portfolio landlords and Limited Company applications.
Complex Buy to Let lenders were rated 96% for their flexibility by brokers. Mainstream Buy to Let lenders were rated 87% for flexibility. Overall, lenders across all categories scored a rating of 79% for flexibility.
When asked what they liked about the lender they had placed a complex Buy to Let application with, one broker commented:
“Flexibility and the underwriters look for a way to write the deal and work with you to get the best solutions for the clients.”
Comparing the two types of Buy to Let lending, brokers also rated the underwriting from complex Buy to Let lenders as higher than mainstream Buy to Let lenders, with a rating of 50% compared to 32%. The overall average across all lenders was 51%.
Smart Money People also found there is a marked difference between broker satisfaction with speed for the two types of Buy to Let lender. Complex Buy to Let lenders were rated just 29% for their speed and mainstream Buy to Let lenders were rated 55% for speed. In turn this shows a difference in how easy a broker thinks these lenders are to place an application with. Complex Buy to Let lenders were rated 67% compared to 80% for mainstream Buy to Let lender applications for ease by brokers.
When leaving feedback for a complex Buy to Let application with a lender, one broker said:
“Their service delivery has a lot of scope to improvement. Too much time in processing leaves clients on the edge.”
Commenting on the findings, Jacqueline Dewey, CEO of Smart Money People, said: “It’s clear that brokers realise and appreciate the complex nature of non-mainstream Buy to Let cases and how lenders approach them, especially when it comes to how flexible a lender is willing to be for these cases. However a rating of 29% for speed compared to the overall lender average of 58% shows that complex Buy to Let lenders still have room for improvement in their backend processes.”
The Mortgage Lender Benchmark covers feedback from 597 brokers on 44 lenders across banks, building societies, specialist lenders and lifetime providers, as well as their thoughts on the mortgage market in general.
Along with asking brokers to rate lenders on different aspects of their proposition, Smart Money People analyses the comments that brokers provide when asked what they like or what could be improved for each lender. These are mapped across 20 themes to give a rich insight into how each lender is performing.
