Marc Turner, head of sales at Abacus, claimed the products are unique in the marketplace and said he was confident the relationship between Abacus and Rooftop would ensure high service standards were maintained.
The offer extends across the Rooftop range, excluding right-to-buy-products, and includes a refund of the valuation fee and free conveyancing excluding title insurance.
Key strengths include high LTVs for remortgage and self-cert; on-site offer production; LIBOR currently at 4.93 per cent; and no minimum trading period on self-certification.
Turner highlighted the stepped light product as the current best seller. It has a 2.5 per cent discount in year one, a 1.5 per cent discount in year two and 1 per cent discount in year three with a 90 per cent LTV up to £350,000 and 85 per cent up to £500,000.
Turner said: “I feel very comfortable that between Abacus and Rooftop we can maintain our high service standards. The fees-free range will be of obvious benefit to the customer in a sector where money may not be so readily available, which will in turn benefit the broker as it makes the range infinitely more sellable.”
James Cotton, mortgage specialist at London & Country, commented: “This is a positive step by Abacus. It obviously depends on the competitiveness of its rates but it’s good to see the non-conforming sector edging closer to prime deals.
“Customers have been stung with high fees for some time now; offers like this will help make products cleaner and fairer. It will be no surprise to see others following suit with such initiatives.”
