West One launches into first charge buy-to-let

West One launches into first charge buy-to-let

Specialist lender West One Loans has launched a range of first charge buy-to-let mortgage products.

The range includes standard and specialist products that are initially available through partners including Enterprise Finance, Vantage Finance, Brightstar, Dynamo and Connect for Intermediaries – with wider distribution following in the 'near future'.

Danny Waters, chief executive of Enra Group, said: “Our launch into the first charge buy-to-let mortgage market is an exciting new chapter for West One, and is the next step in our growth following the successful launch of development finance last year, and second charge mortgages in 2017.

“We are committed to providing a wider reach of specialist lending products to meet the needs of borrowers who would benefit from a common-sense approach to lending.

“Our extensive experience within the property finance market means we are well positioned to understand the complexities of the market, in addition to focusing on making the process of obtaining a buy-to-let mortgage as painless as possible.

“We’re very pleased to bring Andrew on board, he has a track record of building lending business in the buy-to-let sector, and his wealth of knowledge and experience will be an asset as we look to establish West One Loans in the market.”

The standard range is available to both individual and limited company borrowers secured against standard property types, whilst the specialist range caters for HMOs, MUFBs, ex-pats, holiday lets and Air BnB properties.

Products on offer include 2- and 5-year fixed term, with rates starting from 3.39%, with a maximum loan-to-value of 80% and loan sizes up to £2m. A fast track remortgage option is also available to individual borrowers remortgaging up to a loan size of £750,000.

The specialist lender also announced that Andrew Ferguson has joined to help the team establish the business. Ferguson has joined following senior roles in the buy-to-let mortgage sector at Kent Reliance, Axis Bank – where he set up the buy-to-let lending service – and most recently as commercial director at Foundation Home Loans.

West One’s team of in-house developers have created a broker portal to support the launch.

The IT platform will be closely followed by the addition of a broker case hub, which should enable intermediaries to have streamlined processes and enhanced communication with West One’s dedicated underwriting team.

Ying Tan, managing director of Dynamo for Intermediaries, said: “We are delighted to be extending our partnership with the team at West One Loans to include a range of buy-to-let mortgage products. We believe this will be a valuable and competitive addition to the marketplace and look forward to officially adding West One to our lending panel to provide an even wider range of options to landlords.”