Atom bank has appointed Amy Donnelly to the role of business development manager (BDM) for Scotland and Northern Ireland. She brings over two decades of experience in the intermediary mortgage market to the role, having started her career at Bank of Scotland, before working in a BDM role for Halifax Intermediaries. Most recently, Donnelly has been working as a mortgage broker, offering an insight into the challenges that advisers currently face and how lenders can support them and their clients. In her new role, she will be responsible for strengthening the relationships that Atom bank already enjoys with brokers in Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as introducing new brokers to the lender.

Pepper Money has introduced enhanced lending criteria for self-employed mortgage customers across its second charge mortgage range. With 80% of self-employed people believing that self-employment makes it more difficult for them to secure a mortgage, Pepper has made improvements to its second charge proposition to level the playing field. As part of the improvements, self-employed customers now have access to the same rates as employed borrowers up to 95% LTV. In addition, self-employed applicants can use their latest year’s income for affordability calculations across all products. For Pepper Money’s prime and XLTV ranges, the lender will request two years’ proof of income and on its plus range, it will request just one year.

Norton Broker Services has recently secured a purchase and refurbishment loan valued at £210,000 and £120,000 respectively, for a newly formed special purpose vehicle (SPV). The client, made up of four directors, two of whom had limited experience of property development, first approached Norton in search of financing to fund the refurbishment work on a property with a purchase price of £300,000. The firm approached Octane Capital to secure the financing, being the first application sent to the firm by Norton. The clients were reluctant to apply for planning permission without owning the property, but also didn’t want to lose terms, so Octane agreed to hold the terms while the applicants applied and waited for planning permission. Once approved, the clients were granted the initial loan of £210,000 and a further £120,00 for refurbishment at 72% LTV.

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