Specialist lending is a segment of the mortgage market dedicated to providing alternative home loan solutions to borrowers who are unable to potentially meet the lending criteria set by the normal mortgage lenders.

There are numerous reasons why a borrower may fall into the specialist category and there is no common characteristic that identifies every specialist borrower together.

Often what you think might be specialist, is actually just slightly more complicated than normal – so please don’t panic and book a call with one of the team and let us work out what needs to be done for you.

Common reasons why borrowers may need a specialist lender:

If you need a mortgage for an unconventional property, self build or for “different” to the normal circumstances then we have a dedicated member of the team who specialises in getting you the best possible mortgage.

As mortgage brokers we have access to a number of specialist lenders, who unlike the high street banks, will assess your application on an individual basis, in order to determine your mortgage affordability.

Our expert mortgage advisors take the time to understand your personal needs and circumstances, to find the best mortgage deal available for your individual situation.

To ensure your mortgage application is a complete success, they also handle the entire process for you; managing all the necessary paperwork and liaising with all the relevant parties, until your mortgage completes.

If you are self-employed, have buy to let properties, in need of a specialist home loan or simply looking for some mortgage advice, you are in safe hands with us.

Specialist lenders are still subject to the same rules as high-street banks under the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Mortgage Market Review (MMR) introduced in 2014. This means any potential borrowers are stress tested 3-4 percentage points above the lender’s standard variable rate (SVR) to see if they can afford repayments if interest rates were to rise. Together with manual underwriting, this ensures the borrower is safe to lend to.

Even if you have poor or bad credit, have been faced a county court judgement (CCJ), rent arrears, or bankruptcy, these are usually one-off and explainable events and although a Lender takes them into consideration it will not put off all lenders lending to you. Just because something like this happened once, does not make you a repeat offender and providing you have demonstrated a commitment to improving your financial position this past incident will not bar you from securing a mortgage – but it may mean we need to different assessment routes.

If you are unsure about which route is best for you, speaking to a mortgage broker is always a good place to start.