Paragon Bank has strengthened its new build property proposition, supporting landlords to invest in new, energy-efficient homes, in addition to launching a new broker portal dashboard that delivers a simpler way to manage applications.
Landlords purchasing new build properties can now benefit from buy-to-let mortgage offers valid for six months, up from three previously.
Landlords can request that the selected product be retained for a further three months beyond the original six-month offer validity. Beyond six months, a physical reinspection and reassessment of the application will be required.
The improved proposition also means that houses being purchased off-plan or part-built, developed by a national housebuilder, will not require a further physical internal property reinspection, delivering time and cost savings for borrowers.
"Enhancing our new build proposition provides landlords with the increased certainty of having a mortgage offer that is valid for six months, with the flexibility to request a three-month extension to nine months," said James Harrison, buy-to-let product manager at Paragon Bank (pictured).
"These proposition improvements are supporting landlords to invest in new build homes, helping to bring good quality into the private rented sector. New build homes often benefit from EPC ratings of C or above so we're anticipating demand for these properties to increase following the recent announcement of minimum energy efficiency standards reforms within the PRS."
Paragon has also launched a new broker portal dashboard, which brings together everything brokers need to apply, track and manage cases.
Brokers can apply for a range of products, including buy-to-let and refurb-to-let, product switches and further advances, in one click. All cases can be seen in one dashboard, with clear statuses up front, and search and filter functionality enables brokers to quickly find applications by type or status.
Adding action tags helps brokers to instantly spot cases that need attention, and secure built-in messaging means they can send and receive updates without leaving the portal.
"Our new broker portal dashboard is all about delivering a simpler, smarter way to manage mortgage applications," said Andrew Smart, head of transformation at Paragon Bank.
"We've built the dashboard in partnership with brokers, gathering feedback at every stage and testing new features together to ensure it meets their needs. The new portal dashboard is the latest enhancement we've made to our streamlined mortgage application platform, with more in the pipeline."
