Mike Rush (White Rose Finance) talks about Commercial Lending – October 2015

We were pleased to be able to welcome Mike Rush from White Rose Finance to our meet up on Thursday 29th October.

Mike began by explaining that he has 35 years experience in financial services and is a specialist in commercial lending and insurance. He is a sole trader and works under contract with White Rose and others and he is based in North Wales.

White Rose are a totally independent commercial finance broker with their Head Office being based in Yorkshire with growing UK coverage. They have relationships with all major commercial Lenders such as Nat West, RBS, Barclays, Santander, TSB and Lloyds as well as having relationships with challenger banks, specialist lenders and private investors for example Shawbrook, Aldermore, Cheshire Mortgages, Funding Circle, etc.

White Rose are members of the NACFB (National Association of Finance Brokers) membership of the NACFB ensures that people receive the most ethical service and transparent loan terms. They have unrivalled product knowledge and are in-house which allows them to offer quality advice which assists in speedier decisions being made by lenders. They advise many property developers and landlords; if a product is out there they can find it.

Mike explained that they help businesses and individuals in business source finance and funding solutions. They are complimentary to a person’s existing banking relationship and have a whole of market approach with 200+ funding lines which includes access to alternative funding providers. They offer confidential and free advice without obligation. In addition Mike informed everyone that White Rose Finance are specialists in property related and working capital finance. In relation to property finance they cover a number of areas such as Commercial Mortgages whether this is for an owner occupier or as an Investment, they also cover Portfolios. They offer mortgages for Buy To Let, HMO’s and Holiday Lets as well as being able to offer Short-term (Bridging) Finance, Property Development Mortgages, Refurbishment Loans, Second Charge Secured loans on home or investment properties and mortgages on Property portfolios.

Mike went on to speak about information ,news and trends. He started by touching on the current housing market and stated that UK house prices are showing an annual growth of between 4.5% – 8%. Buyer demand is increasing with lending in Buy to Let sector steadily rising over the last 5 years. On the Lettings front demand far outstrips supply at the moment. To June 2015 average tenant incomes were 3.2% higher than in 2014 and to June 2015 the average rental value for new tenancies were 11.6% higher than the same period last year. As regards Buy to Let/Investment Mortgages new and old players are returning to the market with free valuations now being common and fees from 0 – 2% or from 1.65% (Discounted period). There are fixed rate or tracker mortgages available with Early Redemption Charges of 0 – 3%.

He said that in relation to Short term (bridging) finance, presently there are arrangement fees ranging from 1 months interest or 0.5 – 2% of the overall project funding. Interest charges range from 7.8% – 18% per annum and exit fees from 0 – 1 months interest. For larger projects there is Property Development finance which has arrangement fees ranging from 1 months interest or 1 – 2% of the overall project funding. Interest charges range from 3.0% to 15% per annum and exit fees from 0 – 1 months interest.

Mike touched upon hoe the future looks going forward and stated that on the downside there were the new tax relief changes that are due to come into force which will affect quite a lot of landlords. The Bank of England has made comments about Buy to Let destabilising house process in the UK and therefore there could be further intervention from them. There are rising costs involved in being a Buy to Let landlord such as the new licensing rules which are coming into force shortly amongst other things. Finally there might be interest rate rises as yields compress, however the rental market in the UK is on the increase this could possibly be due to a change in people’s mindsets about renting.

On the flip side of the coin Buy to Let remains a leveraged investment with strong capital growth forecasts. There has been a structural shift in housing with good rental forecasts and a shift towards people sharing. He commented that with the forthcoming tax relief changes, there is likely to be a shift towards using a limited company to purchase Buy to Let investments by a lot of landlords.

Mike concluded by saying that White Rose Finance are an independent company who offer a free discussion/consultation. In addition they are happy to offer a free financial & insurance health check for Wrexham Property Meet members. Mike thanked everyone for their time and said that if anyone had an queries he was more than happy for them to contact him. Mike’s contact details are below:-

Mike Rush
0845 838 8961
07864 050020
mike.rushWRF@gmail.com
www.whiterosefinance.com