The deal marks the first international expansion for US firm Better which was established in 2016.
US digital homeownership platform Better HoldCo, Inc. (Better) has swooped to purchase digital mortgage and insurance broker Trussle.
The deal marks the first international expansion for Better which was established in 2016.
Vishal Garg, founder and CEO of Better, said: “In the United Kingdom, the mortgage process takes months to complete, with consumers paying thousands of points in fees and losing hours to needless frictions, all leading to a large number of Britons giving up on owning their own home and the national homeownership rate falling from 73% to 65% over the last 10 years.
“Better eliminates the high financing costs, massive transactional friction, tyranny and mind-numbing bureaucracy that comes with getting a mortgage and buying a home in the UK via a high street bank.
“We researched the UK market and were surprised to see how we could make it so much better for consumers buying and financing a home for the first time.
"We found a kindred spirit in the team at Trussle who have developed a platform that we can work alongside to help every Briton own their own home.
"Making homeownership affordable and accessible for all customers is a key tenet of a well-functioning credit system and we are here to help grow Trussle and make it even better.”
Trussle was founded in 2015 and has sourced over £2.7bn of mortgage approvals for UK consumers with £1.1bn of that in the past 12 months.
Ian Larkin, CEO of Trussle, said: "Better and Trussle were both founded on the understanding that consumers increasingly prefer to use online services to shop for and transact on major life purchases.
"It is 27 years since the World Wide Web was launched and most consumer industries have embraced it by now but the UK mortgage market is still characterized by analogue systems and processes.
"This market should not require consumers to apply for a mortgage five months before the end of the stamp duty holiday
“We are very excited about becoming part of Better, and we are confident that Trussle’s future looks brighter than ever as part of a large and growing international organization that shares our commitment to making homeownership more simple, fair and accessible for all.”
The terms of the transaction are not disclosed, and is subject to regulatory approvals in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Larkin and the existing management team will continue to lead Trussle following the acquisition.
