Freestyle+ was launched in February 2006 and is a set of 25 award winning movies launched to provide people looking for a mortgage with unbiased educational information to help them make better informed choices.
Buy-to-Let Mortgages has attracted the vast majority of Freestyle+ visitors with almost a quarter (24 per cent) of the total viewings. Cash Reserve and Offsetting have also proved to be popular choices, together attracting 15 per cent of site visitors.
Research that Standard Life Bank has conducted amongst IFAs from throughout the UK confirms that IFAs are as positive about the buy-to-let market as consumers, with nearly one in two (48 per cent) of IFAs saying the sector will continue to grow and 10% believing it will grow faster than the current pace1.
The research also supports offset as an increasingly popular mortgage feature2, with nearly a third (27 per cent) of IFAs questioned saying that offsetting was the most popular flexible mortgage feature being requested by customers.
Jackie Moran, head of Sales at Standard Life Bank, said: “The Freestyle+ viewing results are very telling as they clearly show us today’s savvy mortgage hunter is hungry for information beyond the initial headline rate. Buy-to-let, offsetting and cash reserve and are all ways of using your mortgage as a financial tool.
“It’s good news for advisers because it supports the guidance process and will help build client relationships if advisers are wise enough to use this tool to demonstrate to their clients how they can use their mortgage as part of their regular financial planning.”
