Specialist lending group OneSavings Bank is implementing an online portfolio submission platform, along with property risk software developer eTech, ahead of the PRA changes (Prudential Regulation Authority) regarding portfolio landlord underwriting standards on 1st October 2017.
The platform, built on the backbone of eTech’s Buy to Let Hub, will give mortgage brokers one straightforward online solution, which will streamline portfolio stress testing and income coverage ratio assessment to provide a rapid response to loan applications, all delivered through one simple broker dashboard for ongoing monitoring and management.
OneSavings Bank Implements Submission Platform Ahead of PRA Changes
Together with input from Mortgages for Business, the platform has been created with the broker experience at the heart of the system. It will allow intermediaries to upload portfolio property details directly onto the platform, either manually or from Microsoft Excel. New portfolios can also be quickly created based on previous portfolio data.
The Buy to Let Hub then automates key criteria variables, sending a summary report automatically to the underwriters, allowing the lender to assess individual applications quickly and efficiently.
The PRA changes will introduce stricter portfolio landlord underwriting standards. Paragon and Aldermore have already revealed how they will be complying with the new rules.
The Sales Director of OneSavings Bank, Adrian Moloney, comments on the news: “As a specialist lender, this sort of bespoke underwriting is in our DNA, so it will be business as usual for us come October. Nevertheless, brokers are our business, and we know they are soon going to be hit with a greater administrative burden, so we want to do all we can to make the transition as smooth as possible.
“I’d like to thank Steve Olejnik and the broker team at Mortgages for Business, as well as the team at eTech, for their expertise and insight in enabling us to provide a solution that delivers the functionality that brokers will find most useful. They’ll be able to upload, monitor and manage the portfolio element of their applications in one intuitive dashboard, with a robust back-end that empowers us as a lender to make quick and accurate decisions.”
He adds: “In just a couple of months, the buy-to-let market will take yet another step toward greater specialisation, and I hope this tech-driven solution will quickly become the gold standard for brokers coming to terms with the new rules.”
Mark Blackwell, the Lending and Surveying Services Director at eTech, also says: “We are delighted to be working with OneSavings Bank to deliver the industry standard Buy to Let Hub. We have worked collaboratively to provide a solution that supports brokers and landlords, and helps make OneSavings Bank easy to deal with in a market becoming ever more specialist.
“We build software to manage property risk and improve efficiency. This is the start of the digital journey with the Hub, with several more phases to follow after September that will deliver more enhancements to the specialist lending market.”
And finally, Steve Olejnik, the COO of Mortgages for Business, concludes: “Once again, OneSavings Bank is blazing a trail amongst the specialist lenders, creating not just a solution to accommodate the new PRA requirements, but also having the foresight to include input from brokers to ensure that the technology is fit for purpose. From our perspective, forewarned is forearmed. OneSavings Bank’s proactivity has helped us to prepare our customers and our processes for the increased administrative burden that all brokers will be required to undertake on the journey to get deals over the line from October onwards.”
We will continue to keep you updated with all news of the PRA changes at Landlord News.