The lender said it was moving into the light adverse end of the market, with a controlled introduction of mortgage products planned for later this Summer.
The products are to be marketed largely through mortgage intermediaries but as yet no decisions on products or a launch date have been made.
Colin Franklin, head of sales at Coventry, said: “These products will be launched in a controlled manner and they will represent a modest part of our overall portfolio. We will maintain our prime focus but we see the move into non-conforming as a way of filling some of the gaps where we cannot offer a product at the moment.”
Michael Brill, director at Baronworth Investment Services, said: “The Coventry has always been very helpful and good to work with when ever I have dealt with it. So it is good news that it is moving into near-prime. We will have to wait and see, but as long as the rates are competitive then it can only be a good thing.”
Coventry Building Society’s move into the light end of the non-conforming sector marks the addition of another mortgage lender into the adverse area.
While there are no product details as yet, the Coventry will have to compete with the established names in the non-conforming market as well as the new names planning an entrance later this year.
John Mawdsley, director of the Mortgage Partnership, said the devil would be in the detail if Coventry Building Society wanted to compete effectively in the non-conforming mortgage market. “The Coventry will find it quite tough and will have to have a clear focus in what it wants to achieve. It has a pretty solid distribution proposition as it has the branch network, but we will have to see what it is offering.”
