Sam and Daniel were long term renters, hoping to purchase a property as first time buyers.

Despite having good income they were struggling to save a big enough deposit to purchase a property based on the requirements they saw advertised by highstreet banks.

They were referred to us by a friend and after conducting a meeting we were able to use our market knowledge to match them up with a lender that has an alternative approach to deposits. Wesuccessfully secured a decision in principle that would allow them to purchase a property for up to £200,000 with just a £5000 deposit.

The couple found a property that met their needs and budget within a few weeks. On their behalf we liaised with the estate agents and instructed conveyancing solicitors, with the purchase completing 11 weeks later.

Mr and Mrs P had recently entered into semi-retirement stepping away from professional, full time careers to focus on a smaller, self employed, online business. Alongside this, the couple had been renting out a small annex building within the grounds of their rural home on Airbnb, declaring the income as a separate business.

Unfortunately, when it came time to remortgage, the couple discovered that their existing lender was no longer willing to work with them due to two clashes with their criteria. After leaving their full time jobs, the couple's documented income fell below the lender's minimum income ratio and the disclosure that they were using the annex for holiday letting, fell foul of the lender's restrictions.

After conducting a comprehensive review of Mr and Mrs P’s circumstances we were happy to tell them that we could help. We were able to contact lenders that not only accept an annex being used as a holiday let, but would factor Airbnb income into the affordability, boosting their income to the required level. We placed a full application the same day and managed to secure the mortgage a few weeks later avoiding the clients moving onto the significantly higher cost standard variable rate after their fixed rate ended with their existing lender.

As part of our service we also reviewed the couples insurances and protection. We identified a significant shortfall in their cover due to the loss of their ‘death in service’ and ‘sick pay’ work benefits. We put an income protection policy in place to replace their sick pay and a decreasing term life insurance policy in place to replace the ‘death in service’. We also instated landlords' cover and enhanced buildings insurance to accommodate their Airbnb business.

Simon approached us to help him take his first venture into becoming a landlord. He had found a property that was being sold at auction but was not aware that he would only have 28 days to pay for the property if he won. We were able to liaise with a second party that we work with to arrange a temporary bridging loan prior to the auction so that Simon could attend knowing that he had the required finances in place.

After the auction the bridging loan was paid to the vendor allowing the buyer to start renovations on the property. Once the property was renovated the client was able to advertise the house with a local letting agent and while we arranged a buy to let mortgage on its new value to pay back the bridging loan.

In our free protection review we arranged comprehensive buildings and contents insurance alongside landlords insurance for Simons piece of mind.

Sophie had recently qualified as a doctor and secured a long term, well paid job. She wanted to purchase a property, however the high prices in her area meant that the homes she wanted exceeded the maximum loan amount that she’d been told by her bank. After reviewing her contract and payslips we were able to work with one of our specialist lenders to secure a higher lending limit based on her professional status. Lending on a ratio of 5.5x her income instead of the 4.48x she’d been told by her bank.

Sophie found a property and we were able to support Sophie through the process of making an offer to the estate agents. On Sophie’s behalf we arranged the solicitors to handle the conveyancing and maintained communications with the estate agent to ensure a smooth transaction.

Prior to the purchase completing we conducted a review of Sophie’s financial and insurance well being. Identifying a need, we arranged income protection and critical illness cover that compliments the provisions already in place with her employer. We also arranged for our will writer to visit Sophie to make sure that her wishes were carried out should the unfortunate happen.

Claire is a retired widow who changed her mortgage to interest only over 20 years ago as she and her partner were struggling to afford repayments. This had resulted in over £100,000 of capital still outstanding. With the end of her mortgage term approaching and unable to secure a traditional mortgage, the prospect of having to sell her home to repay the outstanding loan was causing significant concern.

We were able to arrange a retirement interest only mortgage (known as a RIO) that allowed not only allow Claire the option to stay in her property for the rest of her life or until she moves into full time care but to also borrow an additional £150,000 against the property to allow her to fully enjoy her retirement.

As part of our process we also identified that Claire had not updated her will in over 20 years. With many changes to the family in that time that Claire wanted to accommodate, we arranged for our professional will writers to visit Claire and put a document in place that ensures that her wishes be carried out should she pass away.

Mr and Mrs J had reached retirement and wanted to access the funds they had locked up in a rental property they had held for over 20 years. Their son had expressed interest in purchasing the property from them as his first home but had no cash available for a deposit. They were referred to us by their letting agent who we work closely with. After our initial discussion we were able to propose the idea of carrying out a concessionary purchase.

A concessionary purchase allows a vendor to sell a property, usually to a family member for an amount below normal market value. The difference between the agreed purchase price and the market value is then ‘gifted’ to the buyer, this is known as a gift of equity. From a mortgage lenders perspective this gift can be used as a deposit a the mortgage allowing the buyer to complete the purchase without having an upfront, cash deposit available.

In this circumstance, Mr and Mrs J agreed to sell their property which was valued at £185,000 to their son for £138,750 which equates to 75% of the market value. We arranged a mortgage for Lloyd that used the remaining £46,250 of property value as a 25% deposit.

Once the mortgage was in place we conducted our standard protection review, identifying a need for income protection for Lloyd to enable him to maintain his mortgage payments should he not be able to work for an extended period of time.