Its products are in the final stages of testing on Trigold’s e-Trading platform and are set to be rolled out to the wider broker market immediately.
FML’s products will be classified in three bands, ranging from light adverse to heavy adverse, and will include self-cert, buy-to-let and right-to-buy products. The lender will maintain its affinity with the Freehold packager association and has four shareholders who will be officially announced after the launch.
Paul Brett, CEO of FML said the lender would focus on personal service. “Everything is in working order, but we want to make sure there are no glitches before we roll out to the whole market. The specialist sector is a core part of the industry now and the choice for consumers has never been greater. I have the utmost respect for specialist lenders focusing on technology, but our focus will be on offering a human perspective.”
Kevin Paterson, managing director of Park Row Mortgages, said: “There is already fierce competition within the specialist market and I think FML will struggle to find a foothold. With some of the big banks coming in from the United States, it has its work cut out.
“Although it may intend to differentiate itself with a personal rather than technology based service, the main reason for doing so much business online is because margins have been eroded so much since regulation. Technology enables many brokers to reduce costs. If Freehold is planning on introducing a one-to-one based telephone system it could all be very nice, but it will not solve the problem of speed.”
