Lucy Hodge, founder and director of Vantage Finance

Financial Reporter had a chat with Lucy Hodge, founder and director of Vantage Finance.

Related topics:  In The Spotlight
Amy Loddington
30th August 2013
In The Spotlight

FR: Mortgage lending recently saw the best month since 2008 – have you seen a noticeable improvement in the market recently?

Yes, absolutely. The market feels more buoyant today than it has for a long time. I think it will be interesting to see whether there will be a summer slump or whether the momentum in the market will keep up the current pace. At the moment activity feels high, fuelled by competition in the market from lenders, as well as continued house price growth and general improvement in availability of mortgage lending.

FR: What have been some of your company's key milestones over the past couple of years?

It’s been an exciting couple of years for Vantage. We have welcomed new members of the team in underwriting, business development and admin roles and moved offices.  We have expanded our specialist lending panel as a result of new entrants and others returning to new originations, which is a positive sign of the market’s return to growth. On top of this, I have also been appointed to the NACFB board where I hope to make a big difference in terms of the PR, marketing and branding of the organisation.

FR: What does 2013 hold for you?

Our aim is to continue growing Vantage as an expert packager. We’ve placed high quality service at the heart of our offer for introducers, and this will continue to be a focus as we expand our teams and grow the business. We use the expertise of our team, strong communication, efficient processes and sheer determination to complete details. Throughout 2013 and beyond, we’ll use this approach to find the best solution for our clients.

FR: What challenges do you feel are most affecting brokers in the current market?

From speaking with brokers I would say that the main challenges are remortgaging, valuation availability and regulation changes.

The remortgage market remains subdued as people are keen to hold on to low existing rates and interest only facilities. Borne from that, however, are opportunities with secured loan products which are very competitive and readily available at the moment.

The availability of valuations is a real bugbear for brokers. We have heard some horror stories that some mainstream lenders are quoting timescales of several weeks which can make purchase transactions problematic.

Finally the regulation minefield is making a big difference to the market, especially those who offer the spectrum of financial services. These businesses have recently overcome the hurdle of regulation changes as a result of the RDR, the change from the FSA to the FCA and the impending changes due next year surrounding the migration of consumer credit act lending to the remit of the FCA.

FR: You offer secured loans, buy to let mortgages, commercial finance, short term loans and development finance – which would you say is the ‘one to watch’ in the coming year?

For us it is commercial finance, but more specifically residential investment products within that category. 

There is still a huge funding gap for property professionals as high street banks’ commercial propositions are conservative when it comes to property investment. Retail buy-to-let lenders are still not catering to the whole market, specifically Ltd Company buy to let, HMO’s, landlords with large portfolios and property developers who also run portfolios. 

Lenders like Shawbrook, Interbay and Aldermore have made a start at filling this gap and as the demand for rental property continues to increase, there will be even more opportunities for landlords.

FR: If you weren’t in financial services, what would you be doing?

Who knows? That’s really tough!  I wouldn’t be surprised if it was something property related but I can’t really see myself doing any other job that this.
 

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