Fleet Mortgages has announced the expansion of its offices in two locations across the country. From the middle of August, the buy-to-let specialist lender lender has taken over a third floor at its Flagship House head office in Fleet, in order to accommodate a growing number of employees across all its teams. Fleet Mortgages said it had been recruiting heavily over the past few months in its core region, and that the new staff would now be housed in its expanded office space. The lender has also expanded into the Cardiff office of parent company, Starling Bank, with an initial team of underwriters. Fleet Mortgages indicated it is looking to take more space in Wales’ capital city in order to incorporate further recruitment in this department.

United Trust Bank (UTB) Structured Property Finance has provided a £5.7m commercial investment loan to refinance and subsequently refurbish a property in London. Westley Richards, of real estate debt advisory firm Westrock Capital, approached UTB on behalf of clients BYM Capital, a UK based real estate developer and investment company. BYM wished to refinance the facility used to acquire the building, a 29,000 sq.ft. office building in Stockley Park, West London, and secure funding for a £1.8m, Grade A commercial refurbishment of the entire ground floor. UTB provided the £5.7m facility required, representing a 56% loan to gross development value (LTGDV).

Accord Mortgages has launched a new residential product range that offers up to 5.5 times loan-to-income (LTI) for clients with a household income of £70,000 or more. The lender’s new Boost LTI range – which looks to support brokers with clients who need a small stretch to their income multiples – is available for LTVs up to 90%, or 85% for a new-build property, for both purchase and remortgage purposes. Accord confirmed that its standard lending policy and affordability criteria must also be met.

Saffron Building Society has announced the appointment of Lee Williams as its latest regional business development manager (BDM) hire. Williams, who most recently made his name as a BDM at mortgage and protection network Stonebridge Group, will join the society having worked closely with brokers to build their businesses in recent years, and with extensive knowledge of the mortgage market. Saffron said the new appointment continues the work to improve processes and service for brokers at the society.

Castle Trust Bank has announced the completion of a £1.37m heavy refurbishment bridging loan. The loan has been structured to enable a property investor to purchase the property and then increase their borrowing to finance the construction work once planning permission has been granted. The purchase price of the property was £1.83m and the changes required planning permission, which had not been granted at the time of application. Castle Trust Bank structured the loan to enable the purchase of the property with a standard bridge product at 75% LTV, with the option for the client to then switch to a heavy refurbishment bridge at 80% LTV when planning permission was granted.

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