Hinckley & Ruby BS launch H2B equity loan repayment mortgage

As the help-to-buy (H2B) scheme is approaching its fifth anniversary, many homeowners who took advantage of the Governments’ interest free loan will be facing hefty charges come April.

In order to combat this, Hinckley & Rugby Building Society has launched an exclusive product with Mortgage Advice Bureau, which will allow homeowners pay off the loan whilst avoiding the interest charges.

The product will feature a 90% LTV with a charging rate of 2.74%. Homeowners will also receive £1,000 cashback to help with the valuation and administration costs.

OneSavings Bank changes lending conditions ahead of new EPC regulations

From 1 April 2018, it will be unlawful to grant new tenancy on any property with an EPC rating of ‘F’ or ‘G’.

As a result of these changes, OneSavings Bank has made changes to its B2L offering and its commercial properties offering.

B2L offers will now contain a requirement for the acting solicitor to advise the borrower that any rented properties must have an EPC rating of at least ‘E’.

With commercial offers, any properties that do not have a minimum EPC rating of ‘E’ will be referred to the Real Estate team to be reviewed. Also, where “appropriate” a condition may be written in to the contract that the property must achieve at last an EPC rating of ‘E’ within 3 months of completion.

Welendus launches new one-day interest free loan

Welendus has launched a new P2P loan which offers borrowers 0% interest, if the borrower is able to repay the loan within 24 hours. Potential borrowers can be lent up to £500 with the product aimed at those with “unexpected or emergency” bills.

Welendus founder Nadeem Siam said: “The problem seemed clear to me: people are penalised for taking out short term loans often when they are not responsible for the cause of their financial difficulties.

“Welendus solves this, alongside giving local investors the opportunity to invest in their communities and gain value added returns that are unique to the peer to peer lending industry.”

P2P lender WeSwap has gone global

P2P lender, WeSwap, has announced that it can now be used anywhere in the world, in a bid to help travellers get “the most” out of their holiday money.

The development comes as the Brits announce that they are planning to spend on average of £821 per person on their trips, almost £100 more than that spent in 2017.

WeSwap founder and CEO Jared Jesner said: “We’re building WeSwap to make spending money on holiday better for everyone, and this is just one of a range of new features we’re looking at this year which will help everyone spend smarter when they explore the unknown.”

SearchInk rebrands as ‘omni:us’

SearchInk has announced its rebranding to ‘omni:us’ along with the launch of its new insurance-focused products, with the aim of providing a “next-generation” AI service.

omni:us CEO Sofie Quidenus-Wahlforss commented: “With the launch of our new products, we are focusing on providing next generation AI services to businesses in the insurance industry, as this presents a huge opportunity to offer a revolutionary solution for the large amounts of documentation that require processing, particularly with regards to claims and policy comparisons.”

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