16 | Finance Awards 2021 with the regional building societies leading the way with innovative products tailored to the sector. However, I can see the competition increasing with the growth in popularity on the back of Help to Build.” Lastly, we asked Stuart to share the firm’s future plans with us. “Our focus is purely on developing products exclusively for self and custom build. Our aim is to continue to innovate and provide this specialist sector with our unique bespoke products and services. We want to make self and custom build into a mainstream option for everyone. We believe that the launch of Help to Build will accelerate the growth of the sector and we look forward to being at the forefront of these developments with our lender partners.” Company: BuildLoan Ltd Contact: Stuart Bryce Email:
[email protected] Website: www.buildloan.co.uk BuildLoan is the UK’s leading specialist in residential mortgages for self-build, custom build, renovations, conversions and home improvements. In light of BuildLoan’s success within SME News’ UK Finance Awards 2021, we got in touch with Head of Intermediary Sales, Stuart Bryce to find out what the firm has to offer clients. For over 20 years, BuildLoan has been totally dedicated to supporting mortgage intermediaries with around 60 exclusive, solution-based mortgage products from 14 specialist lenders and a unique service, all of which are specifically designed to provide funding in line with customers’ individual project needs and to mitigate risk. Stuart Bryce said, “The two main challenges for self-builders are not running out of money or making sure they have the funds available at the right time to pay for materials or workers. At BuildLoan, we focus on mitigating risk for self-builders; we use our years of experience to verify project costings to make sure they are sufficient and tailor cashflows around the project requirements. Allied to the benefits of cost-based lending, which guarantees that the funds released match the amount required, and the option of advance-stage payments, which provides the money at the beginning of each build stage.” BuildLoan is also a master broker for bridging and development finance, so whether clients are looking to build their dream home, or they are looking to build to sell or to let, on any scale, it has the experts and the lending relationships to help and guide every step of the way. The firm’s service runs from the initial enquiry, understanding the build project, affordability and cashflow requirements, right through to managing re-inspections and stage payments to the completion of the entire build. At the heart of this service are values of creativity, excellence, responsiveness, supportiveness, collaboration, transparency and honesty. It uses its creativity and collaborative nature to build unique solutions with its lender partners specifically for the self-build sector. Its service is Best Self-Build Mortgage Specialists 2021 built upon delivering excellence to brokers and their clients, and being responsive and supportive from initial application through to completion of the build. Underpinning all this is the firm’s honesty and transparency with customers, staff and partners alike. A huge part BuildLoan’s success is its people – not only because of their level of expertise in this specialist sector or their attention to detail, but also their understanding of the needs of the broker and their client. Stuart said, “For most people, building their own home is new, different and daunting, and it’s not something most brokers get regularly, so our team will always focus on explaining everything, to help build up understanding and alleviate any worries or concerns.” Alongside providing excellent service to support brokers, the firm has created a dedicated mortgage platform called Unicus. Unicus will help brokers to learn, research and apply for tailored self and custom build mortgage products, based upon their clients’ specific project needs. Please visit the BuildLoan website to find out more about the service and to register on Unicus. Meanwhile, BuildLoan has found that the pandemic has undoubtedly given many people a reason to evaluate their living space, whether that is to move out of the city or create the perfect space for a living and working home. Stuart tells us, “This specialist market sector is increasing in popularity, and it will continue to do so, especially with the government focus on diversifying the housebuilding sector, to make self or custom building a home into a more accessible option for anyone looking to own a new property. The announcement regarding the launch of the Help to Build Equity Loan Scheme is already generating interest and enquiries, too.” He continues, “The market is highly competitive, Nov21660