Phase 2 launch for Brightstar’s Private Label

Brightstar Financial is today launching four new and exclusive, specialist residential and buy-to-let mortgage products under its Private Label brand.

Private Label, a vintage mortgage brand from the 90’s, was re-launched by the firm on 4^th July this year.  The market-driven specialist lending brand was resurrected to fill gaps in the modern mortgage market, each being carefully designed following extensive research and market intelligence. The brand created a great deal of attention upon its re-launch with the firm increasing enquiry levels by 29% during the campaign period.

The new products, under the brand’s second release will be funded by specialist lenders including Castle Trust, Kent Reliance, Bluestone Mortgages and Kensington Mortgage Company.  The products are:

The Credit Repairer is the UK’s only true credit repair product that rewards customers with a contractual rate reduction for making payments on time, and getting their finances back on track.  It will cater for those with a wide variety, or combination of demerits.  The product will be on a 5 year fixed rate with rates reduced at 12, 36 and 60 months by up to 90bps.

Steve Seal, Sales and Distribution Director of Bluestone Mortgages said:

“We partnered with Brightstar when we first entered the UK market in 2015, and we are delighted to support the launch of the UK’s first true credit repair product.

We have seen this product work successfully internationally as it rewards those who have shown commitment to improving their credit score. We hope this product can provide borrowers with a solution to help them restore their credit profiles whilst having access to affordable rates that suit their needs.”

The Buy-to-let Booster is a simultaneous first and second charge buy-to-let mortgage, which will enable landlords to increase leverage whilst meeting the required rental calculations.  It is a collaboration of Kent Reliance Building Society (first charge) and Castle Trust (second charge).  Interest on the second charge will be rolled up and not serviced so there is no rental coverage required on this part of the mortgage.  The product will only require 1 valuation report and 1 set of legals from a panel mutually agreed by both lenders.

Matthew Wyles, Executive Director at Castle Trust Capital, said:

“By using a second charge mortgage with all interest deferred to maturity, Castle Trust can help landlords increase their leverage without creating cashflow strain. Over the course of the last few years we have progressively refined our skills in delivering this type of structure and we have a strong reputation for consistency and quality in this space.  We have worked in co-operation with Kent Reliance for a long time and this new initiative driven by Private Label will make our product accessible to an even larger number of landlords.  Our partnership with Kent Reliance will reduce costs and streamline process for our mutual clients.”

The Bridging Buster is designed for investors who have purchased a property with short-term finance (or cash), and wish to re-mortgage onto a traditional buy-to-let product.  The investor will be able to capital raise for re-investment based on any post works valuation uplift, within 6 months.

Adrian Moloney, Sales Director at OneSavings Bank said:

“We are delighted to support Brightstar through its innovative Private Label mortgage brand by providing the market challenger with a Bridge Buster product which will allow customers the facility to quickly move recent purchases onto standard BTL rates.”

The Second Homeowner is a product that allows the borrower to purchase or re-mortgage a second property up to 70% LTV, with features such as an interest only option and innovative income calculations for both employed and self-employed applicants.  The borrower may have an impaired credit history and the property can be used as a holiday home, pied-à-terre or be occupied by a family member.

Steve Griffiths, Sales and Distribution Director at The North View Group said:

“The second home market can be challenging for customers treading the fine line between residential and investment property and advisers need to be comfortable that the products that they are recommending are suitable for the intended use. By allowing use for holiday homes or a city base close to work, as well as providing a solution for those customers wanting to purchase a property for their immediate family, we are looking to meet the needs of customers in that space and look forward to working with the Private Label team in highlighting the message to the broker market.”

The four new products will sit alongside The Temporary Renter, a product from the first tranche of Private Label exclusives.  Interest has been gaining traction since its launch on 4^th July, following several articles and comments in national and industry press highlighting the issue of potential buy-to-let fraud.  One investigation highlighted that a common theme when lenders where asked about their stance on short term Airbnb style lets: ‘We want nothing to do with it’ and ‘They are specialist products’.  The short term let market isn’t going anywhere, so we felt that this very relevant product needed to remain.

Rob Jupp, pictured, CEO of Brightstar said:

“Private Label so far has been a huge success and following further feedback from our brokers plus research between our own and lender partner product teams, we have put together another suite of exclusive market-driven products.  We will continue to drive innovation in the specialist sector focussing on under-served niches in the UK specialist lending market.  But we’d also like to offer brokers the opportunity to be involved in creating new products and I would like to hear directly from you about the areas and criteria that would most help your clients.”

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 instant quotation and case tracking system.

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