Second charge mortgage lending reached £60.8m in January 2021, a dramatic fall from the £104m recorded in the same month last year, Loans Warehouse research found.
Last year the country’s housing market was buoyant after the Brexit deal was signed, we had certainty about the government in place after the General Election, while this year the market has been affected by another lockdown.
There’s been an increase in loans written above 85% LTV from 5.63% in December to 9.48% this past month.
Loans Warehouse said the reintroduction of Equfinance’s ‘Plus Range’ of Second Charges in January would have contributed to this increase, a product that offers loans up to 95% LTV for borrowers with a good credit profile.
Oplo increased its maximum loan to £100,000 and dropped its headline rate to 5% in January.
Together Money, Shawbrook Bank and Oplo all announced an increase in the use of Hometrack desktop valuations; Together will now accept an AVM for loans up to £250,000 and Oplo to £100,000, whilst Shawbrook has increased the range of properties where a Hometrack can replace a physical valuation by increasing the maximum property value to £2m in London & South East.
