"There is a real and sustainable demand from residential mortgage customers who are able to meet affordability criteria and have been locked out of the market since 2008."
FR: What made you want to join a new specialist mortgage lender?
There was a combination of factors that attracted me to this role at Vida Homeloans. The quality and experience of the management team was a big draw, as was knowing I would be working with dedicated Key Account Managers and Telephone BDMs covering all of England & Wales.
I particularly liked the fact that the Vida focus would be 100% on the intermediary market. We have no direct to consumer channel and no plans for this to change, showing our commitment to intermediaries and emphasising the crucial role we know they play in the mortgage market.
Another benefit of working with a new specialist lender is that we get to utilise state of the art technology, without being encumbered by legacy systems. Day-to-day this makes a huge difference in how we operate and how we are able to best serve intermediaries as well as the end customer. Vida is the modern mortgage lender and has a 100% online application process with no paper required. At our head office in Staines, we don’t even have a post room! This process means we can deliver an online decision in principle in less than 10 minutes and a full mortgage application in less than 15. We provide auto-email updates and offer 24/7 online case tracking to ensure intermediaries are kept fully informed at key stages throughout the process.
FR: What is it about Vida’s criteria that sets it apart from the rest?
Feedback since we launched in October is that we have created a platform that has all the USPs from every specialist lender in one place. We have worked hard to recently launch a Fee Saver option, with no product frees and valuation fees refunded up to £650.
Currently our residential range covers market niches as we aim to find a solution for those customers turned away from the high street lenders.
These include impaired and improving credit, recently self-employed, interest only up to 75% LTV, part and part up to 85% LTV, borrowers in or approaching retirement, flats above commercial premises, remortgaging from bridging, and Right to Buy.
FR: How important is technology when launching a new specialist lender?
Technology is absolutely vital and Vida would not be the company it is without the technology and specialist knowledge of its employees. Vida knew this from the beginning which is why we conducted a great deal of customer, intermediary and competitor research before selecting our technology platform. We also had the luxury of designing our system from the beginning, enabling us to make it tailor made for the intermediary. Since we launched in October we have had some great feedback on our application processing system and our website.
FR: Why do you think the need for residential mortgages is growing in the specialist lending market?
Four key trends have helped create the current opportunity in the UK residential mortgage market and provide the platform for it go to from strength to strength.
The regulatory environment has significantly improved since the financial crisis, creating a more stable market and a level playing field for lenders who want to do the right thing for customers.
A number of lenders have left the more complex sectors of the residential market, creating a high proportion of underserved customers. A few new entrants have come in to the market place, however they have not filled the void left by players who have exited.
Our research shows that the needs of many customers are simply not understood or met by mainstream providers due to their automated underwriting models which have a limited range of capabilities. Most other specialist lenders have limited lending capacity, infrastructure and expertise, and cannot offer holistic solutions, meaning there is a great opportunity for Vida to continue expanding in this area.
Finally, there is a real and sustainable demand from residential mortgage customers who are able to meet affordability criteria and have been locked out of the market since 2008. Vida has the appetite to satisfy this demand.
FR: What’s in store for Vida Homeloans in 2017?
We are excited as the specialist market is growing and, as a new specialist criteria-driven lender, we have the appetite to challenge the market and innovate. We are well-funded and backed by significant private equity and banking warehouse providers on terms that are over several years. We see lending into retirement as a niche area with great potential and also buying together (up to 4 incomes), remortgaging from bridging, Right to Buy, interest only and part and part. As a new lender, we will have lots of tweaks and amendments to our systems and criteria as the year develops, as we will listen to intermediaries and fine-tune our proposition as a result. We plan to become a major player in the specialist lending market in the years ahead.
