Squirrel 95% mortgage passes 1000 applications

The advisory firm and investment company has received applications worth more than $75 million so far, proving a hit with buyers trying to get onto the ladder.

Squirrel boss John Bolton said: "We expect that from the applications we’ve received so far, around 1 in 4 will result in a mortgage approval at some point. We can safely say that’s around 250 people or families who would likely not have been able to buy their own homes, which is a fantastic result.”

Launchpad is aimed at borrowers with strong credit profiles who are unable to afford a 20% deposit.

It consists of two loans. One makes up 15% of the value of a property, and is provided by Squirrel's P2P arm, at a fixed rate of 9.95%. The loan is paid off over five years.

The other loan makes up 80% of the value of the property, with lower rates of 2.99% to 3.99%, spread over 30 years and on interest-only terms for the first five years.

After the first five years, borrowers are left with a typical principal and interest 25-year mortgage.

Bolton hailed the innovative product, and said traditional lenders were too rigid to respond to the reality of the current market.

"We look at our clients as people, not numbers, and we're there for the ups and the downs, too," he said.

“We were recently able to help a client who needs to undergo cancer treatment. He asked us for help because his bank wouldn't let him stay on an interest-only mortgage. With stable rental income and a ton of equity in his home, we were able to give him a 7-year interest-only mortgage, allowing him to prioritise getting his health back on track."

“This is what it’s all about. We can’t go around saying we do home loans for humans without having some compassion. Actions speak louder than words.”

Comments from our readers

On 16 August 2021 at 10:34 am valkyrie6 said:

The perceived risk here is that a component of the deposit has been borrowed, these types of lending structures are not new to the market and were popular 10 -15 year ago, in fairyland market where property values always go up and never come down and as long as both loans are being funded on time there is less risk, but there is a reason why main stream banks perceive these borrowed deposit loans as risky, 15% on a 5 year term and interest only on the 80% you only need the market values to drop 5% and we are looking at a completely different risk factor . I am not sure how I feel about mortgage advisers competing against main stream lenders with there own lending products .

Squirrel 95% mortgage passes 1000 applications

Mortgage advice firm Squirrel has received more than 1000 applications for its 95% mortgage product, Launchpad, followings its rollout in April.

Monday, August 16th 2021, 7:22AM 1 Comment

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