Specialist Lenders - No Longer Trading

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1) Advantage Home Lending

• Advantage Home Lending began in 1990. In December 2005, Morgan Stanley bought Advantage Home Lending.  Morgan Stanley expanded Advantage Home Lending in 2006 when it began to offer some of its own mortgage products
• Trading ceased in February 2008
• Advantage Home Lending will continue to administer current mortgages but will not take on any new applications.  The company will also continue to honour ‘right to port’ mortgages.  Homeloans Management Limited managed approximately 8,000 of Advantage Home Lending’s customers and will continue to do so despite the closure from Morgan Stanley.
• Will still honour right to ‘port’ mortgages
• Advantage Home Lending offered a range of products to the intermediary market. There were two main product ranges. ADV range was aimed at the non-conforming customer with poor credit and the Flexishare Range was ideal for first time buyers or customers who could not gather sufficient funds for a conventional mortgage.
• Advantage Home Lending was one of the four lenders that was part of the governments HomeBuy scheme where it helped first time buyers get on the property ladder.

2) Amber Homeloans

• Amber Homeloans was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Skipton Building Society which was founded in 1853. Amber Homeloans was established in 1995.
• Amber Homeloans offered mortgages that also included adverse mortgages, self-certification mortgages and buy-to-let mortgages through mortgage brokers and intermediaries.  The type of mortgage product that a customer was offered depended, primarily, on which section they fell under.  There was Amber Prime, Feather Adverse, Light Adverse, Medium Adverse, Heavy Adverse, Super Heavy Adverse and Bespoke.  Amber Homeloans also traded mortgage portfolios with other lenders.
• In May 2005, Amber Homeloans teamed up with BuildStore to increase its available lending in the self-build market.
• In April 2008, Amber Homeloans ceased trading and ‘withdrew from the lending market for the foreseeable future’.
• Will continue to manage existing loan portfolio.

3) Beacon Homeloans

• Beacon Homeloans was part of the Beacon group which was founded early on in 2005.  The Beacon Group acted as a holding company that was broken down into two main companies both regulated by the FSA; Beacon Homeloans and Beacon Mortgage Packaging.  Beacon Homeloans traded exclusively through intermediaries. In 2009, Beacon Homeloans was the 11th largest mortgage company in the UK (based on sales volume).  The company has lent circa £2bn since 2005.
• Beacon Homeloans is funded by the German bank HypoVereinsbank.
• Beacon Homeloans specialised in offering products to the non-conforming market as well as those customers with clean or adverse credit history, Right to Buy Scheme house purchases and Investment house purchases.
• Became the last self-certification mortgage provider following Platform Mortgages withdrawal from the market in November 2009.
• Current mortgage asset purchase ability ‘ceased’ in November 2009 but currently in talks with investors and FSA about new funding arrangements.  The current funding line will be still available until February 2010.
• No new mortgage offers will be made after November 27, 2009.

4) Bristol and West PLC

• Bristol & West plc (Bristol & West Building Society) was founded in 1850.  It originally focused on mortgage lending for residential and commercial customers.  The building society then changed to a commercial bank named Bristol & West, a division of the Bank of Ireland.  Bristol & West plc was a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of Ireland that was acquired in 1997.  Bank of Ireland sold 97of its high street branches to the Britannia Building Society in 2005.
• Bristol & West plc offered fixed/variable rate mortgages, Buy-to-Let, Self-Certification and Re-Start mortgages.
• All Bristol & West plc mortgage business was transferred to Bank of Ireland on 1st October 2007. Bristol & West plc is no longer authorised by the FSA in respect of mortgage business since October 2007.  Bristol & West then worked as a ‘shell’ for Bank of Ireland until it was completely closed down in January 2009.  The remaining pipeline and mortgage accounts would continue to trade under the Bank of Ireland or Bristol & West name but the Bristol & West name would phase out over time when customers came to the end of their mortgages.

5) DB Mortgages

• DB Mortgages was the mortgage lending group of DB UK Bank Limited, part of Deutsche Bank Group.  DB Mortgages was led by ex-HBOS subsidiary The Mortgage Business employees. DB Mortgages started in 2006 offering mortgages to via intermediaries to the sub-prime and specialist market with buy-to-let dominating its product range.
• In August 2007, DB Mortgages withdrew its entire sub-prime mortgage range, which included its buy-to-let, self-certification and first time buyer mortgages but still continued to trade in the prime mortgage market.  Even though DB Mortgages was only operating for a year, there has been approximately £1bn of loans written by the company.
• In September 2007, DB Mortgages refused to honour the already agreed DIP’s with some of their customers.  New applications have to be made to see if the customer will qualify for the new DIP criteria.
• January 2008 saw first wave of redundancies made at DB Mortgages along with the Managing Director.
• No longer lending but are purchasing wholesale mortgage assets

6) EDEUS

• Edeus launched in September 2006 and worked purely through intermediaries but was different from other sub-prime lenders as it focused a lot of its attention on the technology behind the mortgage applications.  In the first year of trading alone, Edeus brought in over £2bn from originating mortgages.  Edeus offered mortgages for the sub-prime market through to the prime mortgage market.
• In April 2008, Edeus left the lending market and began offering credit analyst services and will focus now on arrears and repossessions.
• In July 2008, Edeus went direct to its customers and offered to waive early repayment charges and exit fee’s to settle their mortgage account.
• Edeus went into administration in October 2008.
• Some of the key members of Edeus have launched Exact Mortgage Experts, along with a key member of GMAC-RFC after an ‘undisclosed sum’ was by to Edeus’s administrators.

7) First National

• First National was originally owned by Abbey National after the company was bought in 1995 for £285m. The company was then acquired by GE Money in 2003. First National was a trading style of GE Home Lending Money Ltd. which was launched in October 2005. 
• First National was pulled from the sub-prime market in March 2009.GE Money now control existing borrower remortgages and all mortgage accounts now operate as GE Money through GE Capital.
• Specialised in sub-prime mortgages strictly through intermediaries with products available for first time buyers, self-employed or customers with previous financial difficulties.

8) Freedom Lending

• Freedom Lending was bought by Merill Lynch & Co in July 2006 from Freedom Finance for £25m.  The company was rebranded as Wave one year later.
• In November 2007, the vast majority of the sub-prime products were withdrawn and the company then chose to focus on prime and buy-to-let products.
• Wave ceased all new lending in May 2008 and was axed by Merill Lynch in September 2008.
• The company offered a wide range of sub-prime products with a lot of focus on self-certification and buy-to-let mortgages.

9) Future Mortgages

• Future Mortgages was founded in 1996 and aimed at providing loans to customers who did not fit the ideal loan criteria.  Future Mortgages was part of Citigroup, but ceased trading in May 2008.  When it exited the market, Future Mortgages had 26,000 customers and made up only 1% of the UK mortgage market.
• From the end of 2007 to beginning of 2008, Future Mortgages slowly eliminated products available to the market.
• Future Mortgages offered buy to let, self certification and right to buy with higher lending rates for adverse credit.

10) GMAC-RFC

• GMAC-RFC is part of GMAC Financial Services which began in 1919.  In the UK, GMAC-RFC began offering mortgage products in 1998 through intermediaries.  By 2007, it was the 11th largest mortgage company in the UK.  GMAC-RFC parent company is General Motors (US company).
• GMAC-RFC had a range of mortgages available from prime, buy to let, self-certification and non-conforming.
• Ceased offering new mortgages in May 2008 and is now an international mortgage asset management company.
• GMAC-RFC was fined £2.8m by FSA in October 2009 for unfair treatment/charges against customers in arrears and also has to pay £7.7m redress to over 46,000 customers.
• In April 2010, GMAC-RFC was taken over by Fortress Investment Group and in December 2010 started voluntary redundancies in order to move the company in-house.

11) High Street Home Loans (HSHL)

• High Street Home Loans was acquired by GMAC-RFC in 2003.  It offered a range of adverse, buy-to-let, self-certification and right to buy mortgages.  HSHL was aimed primarily at satellite packagers.  GMAC-RFC closed this branch of its business in October 2007.
• Lent to customers with adverse credit and provided buy to let and self certification mortgages.

12) Infinity Mortgages

• Infinity Mortgages launched into the UK market in January 2004 with financial backing by Investec and Mortgages plc group of companies. Infinity Mortgages ceased taking on any new business in August 2007.
• Infinity Mortgages offered loans to customers with poor credit history but focused a lot of their products on fixed rate deals.  They worked through packagers and brokers.  With the steady rise in interest rates, the company found it very difficult to price their fixed rate products.

13) London Mortgage Company (LMC)

• The LMC was set up in 2001 by Southern Pacific Mortgages, a subsidiary of Lehman Brothers. It originally offered secured loans through intermediaries but as of March 2002, LMC offered mortgages to customers with poor credit history.
• Fixed, Discounted and Buy to Let Mortgages with interest rates depending on customers credit history were offered by LMC.
• One of the key features of this company is that they did not use standard automated credit checks. The checks were individual to customer.
• Lehman Brothers closed London Mortgage Company in September 2007 alongside Southern Pacific Personal Loans.

14) Money Partners Ltd. (MPL)

• MPL was founded in 2004.  The company went into a joint venture with Kensington Group plc where MPL then acted as a subsidiary of the group.  The Kensington Group held a 57.5% stake in MPL.  On January 9, 2008 MPL became a subsidiary of the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. after being bought outright by Goldman Sachs.
• Money Partner is the trading name of Money Partners Limited and Money Partners Loan Limited
• In June 2006, MPL was one of the founding lenders to the new website www.tcfinfo.co.uk which was committed to offering support to mortgage intermediaries for implementing the FSA Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) principle.  The founding lenders, ironically, were some of the key players in the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
•  In October 2008, MPL started laying off a portion of its staff and in February 2009,  all new lending ceased.
• The FSA changed their status to ‘No Longer Authorised’ in April 2010.
• MPL, primarily, offered mortgages to customers with adverse or non-standard credit history and only dealt through brokers or packagers.

15) Mortgage Express

• Mortgage Express began in 1986 and was originally part of Lloyds TSB and then sold to Bradford & Bingley in May 1997 for £64m.
• Permanently closed to new mortgages and unable to offer product transfer to existing customers since nationalisation and sale of Bradford & Bingley saving and retail branch services to Santander in September 2008.  The mortgage side of Bradford & Bingley remained with the nationalised bank and in October 2010 the mortgage business merged with Northern Rock (Asset Management) plc to form U.K. Asset Resolution Ltd.
• Specialised in buy to let and self–certification mortgages through intermediaries.
• January 2009, they waived early repayment charges for 5 months to existing customers who wished to pay off their loan.

16) Mortgages PLC

• Specialise in loans for non-conforming customers. Mortgages were provided by Mortgage 1 Ltd through intermediaries.  Mortgages plc originally focused on the sub-prime market but did migrate into the mainstream lending area and specialist market such as buy-to-let’s.
• Mortgages plc was founded in 1997 and launched in March 1998. In 2004, it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Merrill Lynch & Co after it was bought by the US Company.   
• Mortgages plc ceased lending in April 2008 when Merrill Lynch closed its doors to any applications.  This follows a slow decrease in products that were made available to the market.  First, self-certification mortgages to the employed were eliminated, and then the buy-to-let products were eliminated. The company now focuses on servicing and administering its own assets.
• July 2010—rumours of Mortgages plc launching again (Mortgage Introducer) as the company was in the process of updating its lending system, however, it remains unclear as to what type of mortgage customers the company would be targeting.

17) Preferred Mortgages

• Preferred Mortgages was originally bought by a management buy out by Barclays Private Equity for €432m in 2001. The company was purchased from the Rotch Property Group who also maintained a minority stake after the sale.  Following the buy out, Preferred Mortgages showed an unprecedented growth within the mortgage market with a 3 fold increase in mortgage completions to €999m. Preferred mortgages were sold to Lehman Brothers in December 2003.
• Closed doors in April 2008, alongside Southern Pacific Mortgages another Lehman Brothers owned company.  Current mortgages are now being run through Capstone Mortgage Services.
• Preferred Mortgages lent to customers with adverse credit and those refused credit due to CCJ’s and repossessions.

18) Rooftop Mortgages

• Rooftop Mortgages started in June 2003.  Rooftop Mortgages stopped lending on April 18, 2008. The lender’s future was left in doubt after the acquisition of its parent company, Bear Sterns, by JPMorgan Chase.  The mortgage book is now managed by Crown Mortgage Management.
• In July 2008, Rooftop offered existing mortgage holders up to 15% discount to help them remortgage with another lender and effectively reduce their mortgage book.
• Rooftop Mortgages was a specialist lender that dealt exclusively through packagers.

19) SALT

• SALT was a trading name of Derbyshire Home Loans Limited who is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nationwide Building Society.
• SALT ceased all lending in March 2008.
• SALT offered self-certification, buy to let and adverse credit history mortgages/remortgages.  The company originally lent only to packagers but later offered products direct-to-broker.  Their attitude to lending was ‘can lend, will lend’.

20) Southern Pacific Mortgages Ltd (SPML)

• SPML was a subsidiary of Lehman Brothers that was set up in 1996. It quickly became a top 20 mortgage provider in the UK.
• SPML was a non-conforming specialist lender and even lent to customers who have previously been bankrupt. SPML worked through intermediaries.  One of the key features of this company was that it advertised it will make a decision on applications within a 24 hour window.
• Closed its doors alongside Preferred Mortgages in April 2008.

21) The Mortgage Business (TMB)

• TMB worked through intermediaries offering self-certification, salary certification, prestige, full certification and buy to let mortgages.  The company also maintain a lot of its business from mortgage packagers.
• HBOS owned
• TMB ceased trading in August 2008.
• Currently not taking on any new business. Advises customers to contact Halifax or BM Solutions for mortgage/remortgage/additional borrowing.

22) The Mortgage Lender (TML)

• The Mortgage Lender specialised in providing mortgages to customers who could not prove their income and in remortgages in order to release cash from your home.  TML was also known as TML Financial Solutions Ltd. and was backed by the Kensington Group plc which was Investec owned.  The Kensington Group purchased TML in 2002 for £25m.
• At its peak, TML lent in excess of £60m/month.
• TML went into administration in December 2007. Resolve Mortgages has purchased the intellectual property rights and customer data base.

23) UCB Home Loans

• UCB Home Loans are a wholly owned subsidiary of Nationwide Building Society that came about after the merger of Nationwide and Portman Building Societies in 2007 which brought together The Mortgage Works and UCB Home Loans.
• On 31 October 2008, UCB Home Loans stopped taking on any new applications but will continue to offer product switches/ remortgages for current customers.  No additional borrowing facilities are available for self-certification mortgage customers.
• UCB Home Loans worked primarily through intermediaries offering loans to customers in the sub-prime market and specialised in buy to let and self-certification mortgages.

24) Unity Homeloans

• Launched in 2005 as a joint initiative between Professional Mortgage Packagers Association (PMPA) and Investec.
• Initially, Unity Homeloans offered a loan of up to £1.5m and self-certification mortgages up to £750,000 for the sub-prime market whilst the prime market mortgages could rise as high as £3m for a full mortgage and £1.5m for a self-certification mortgage. Anything higher would be decided on a case to case basis.  The company also offered buy-to-let and self employed mortgages with 90% LTV as well as 85% LTV on remortgages.
• Unity Homeloans focused on its website to enable brokers a clear and concise look at its products.  They were also able to track each mortgage application in real time.
• In January 2006, Unity Homeloans received criticism as being the cause of the PMPA to break up with 12 of its members forming the Association of Mortgage Packagers and Distributors.
• Withdrew alongside Infinity Mortgages (also Investec owned) in August 2007 and was one of the first sub-prime lenders to withdraw from the market.
• The FSA no longer authorised Unity Homeloans from March 2008.
• November 2010, confirmed it would be returning to the market with Investec.

 

 

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