"The long term health of the buy-to-let market remains positive, despite the government’s best efforts to penalise landlords"
Steve, who has more than 18 years of property lending experience, will be responsible for leveraging Octopus Property’s product range to increase the loan book exposure across England, targeting first-time buyers through to portfolio landlords.
To date, Octopus has provided just under £440mn of buy-to-let financing, and is targeting a further £150mn over the next 12 months.
Steve joins Octopus Property from Shawbrook, where he was regional development manager, responsible for maintaining and developing relationships for Shawbrook Bank in the short term lending, specialist and commercial mortgage markets. Prior to that he held senior roles at the Co-Operative Banking Group and Skipton Building Society.
D'mitri Zaprzala, head of sales at Octopus Property, commented: “The long term health of the buy-to-let market remains positive, despite the government’s best efforts to penalise landlords with a raft of tax and regulatory changes, as an increasing number of investors seek the reliable and attractive income it offers.
“At Octopus Property we have created a product range to meet the full spectrum of buy-to-let landlords. In particular, following the Prudential Regulation Authority decision affecting ‘four or more’ property landlords, we are seeing an increasing number of portfolio landlords taking advantage of our no limit criteria alongside our favorable rates and term sheets tailored to meet individual customers’ needs.
“Steve has established a strong reputation within the UK buy-to-let market, leveraging his in-depth understanding of what is driving landlord demand and his strong intermediary network, and we are pleased that he is joining the company at such an exciting time.”
Steve Matthews added: “The market opportunity for alternative lenders has never been so great and I am excited to be joining a business that truly understands the requirements of property professionals, across both the residential and commercial sectors, and that has a track record and product range to consistently deliver for its customers.”
