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Reading the Mortgage Introducer yesterday which is one of the mortgage industries trade magazines researching products on TriGold which is the most commonly used mortgage system for mortgage advisers shows that there are currently 2,472 buy to let mortgages available to mortgage advisers (compared with only 118 direct from the mortgage lenders). But more importantly, compared with the Mortgage Introducer this time last year there was 1,193 buy to mortgage products available to mortgage advisers’ (compared with 92 direct from the mortgage lender).

So buy to let mortgage products have more than doubled since this time last year, great news and certainly going the right way. But yes at the moment some are a little pricey and some come with a 3.5% arrangement fee. But with more lenders like the Woolwich launching 75% loan to value buy to let mortgages last week, this can only be creating competition to keep the costs down.

Kent Reliance Banking Services (KRBS) is my main lender for buy to mortgages at the moment. They are only accessed via a mortgage adviser and many mortgage advisers cannot even access them, as they are restricted by their mortgage panel of lenders. KRBS - 85% Buy to Let Mortgages.

Just a year ago LTD Company property purchases, multi-lets for working professionals or DSS tenants and licensed HMO properties was hard to find a mortgage. They had low loan to values, high interest rates or arrangement fees and you had to jump thorough every hoop possible. But now the mortgage market is open for business and more and more for this type of mortgage. Typically 75%-85% loan to values, arrangement fees from 1% and more importantly getting back to getting mortgage business completed because that’s what really matters at the end of the day.

Contact our mortgage adviser for this buy to let mortgage, which is also available for HMO mortgages before its gone!

Contact us for more information. Independent mortgage advisor

Vincent Burch - 18 Nov 2011

Now a good WOM broker represents nearly all, or most mortgage lenders and insurance providers offers initial free mortgage advice. As, although advisors and brokers, including Vincent Burch himself, would like access to all mortgage lenders and insurance providers, not all mortgage lenders or insurance providers will take business from a mortgage advisor or broker outside its own firm. To mortgage lenders and insurance providers, we are also known as an intermediary. These mortgage lenders or insurance providers might only take business direct from call centre's while others have their own sales force, which are known as a 'Tied Agents'.

What it actually means under the FCA is that the broker has access to a representation of lenders which covers the whole of the mortgage market, e.g. Buy to Let, Residential, Sub-Prime, etc.

This means what you can actually get is a broker with only six mortgage lenders and single choice of insurance protection provider and maybe another single choice for general insurance and this is true of many large broker firms. Especially estate agency owned mortgage brokers, or advisor firms, who can be even more devious and work off a panel of 6 mortgage lenders on panel and an increased number of lenders off panel. On panel, often means the broker is targeted on these six or so mortgage lenders, so the firm can receive volume overrides and in cases, the advisor or broker won't receive any mortgage commission or recognition from their firm if they go off panel and can get themselves into trouble with their own mortgage firm, if they do this frequently. They should offer you initial free mortgage advice

There are many good mortgage brokers and advisors that do represent as you would expect, most lenders and insurance providers. But how do you tell them apart?

A similar statement that can be equally as guilty as misrepresentation, as you would initially expect this statement to mean;

An Independent Mortgage Broker & Mortgage Advisor Online making this statement simply means that they are charging you a fee for their mortgage services and any financial remuneration made to the advisor or broker for placing your business, is to be returned to the client. Thus, to dissuade the choice of a mortgage product by a mortgage advisor or broker by any financial rewards they may receive from a mortgage lender or insurance provider, a mortgage advisor or broker who offers its clients the option of 'Independent Advice' is a good indication, that they usually have a good spread of mortgage lenders and insurance providers.

All brokers offering financial services must be registered with the FCA. Under this registration they can offer advice in only one of 4 ways, as:

• Tied Agent - Acting for the lender or insurance provider
• Multi-Tied Agent - Acting for the lender or insurance provider
• Whole of Market - Acting for the client
• Independent - Acting for the client

There are three ways that an advisor must be registered with the FCA, either:

• Directly Authorised with the Financial Conduct Authority, known as DA's
• • A DA firm advisors' are known as Mortgage advisors (MA's)
• Appointed Representative of a Network, also known as AR's
• Registered Introducer to a FCA approved firm, also known as RI's

These are UK mortgage brokers or advisors who work for the organisation they represent. For example a bank called HBC, a UK mortgage broker working at HBC is only allowed to sell HBC products. Now although the initial mortgage rate might look good compared another mortgage lender on the high street, the true cost with all fees considered and the cost of the full term of the mortgage might not be as good and the mortgage related insurance products might not be as competitive. This is because they rely on you seeing a good mortgage rate and you believing that all their rates will be good. This is obviously not always the case, it pays to shop around and compare a number of different mortgage lenders and different insurance providers.

Your Life Assurance agent typically has a restricted choice of mortgage lenders, to what is available on the real whole of the mortgage market, but can only sell you their firms' insurance policy. However, under the FCA, this tied insurance agent can have more mortgage choice available to them, than a broker who states that they are WOM.

A Multi-Tied Agent is very similar to a Tied Agent; as they still work for the lender or insurance provider and do not need to consider all the product providers. They are only required to find the most suitable product for the client, from the range of providers to which the firm is tied with initial free mortgage advice

There is such as variation as to what a UK mortgage broker or advisor will offer a client under this advice capacity as required by the FCA, from one UK mortgage broker or advisor to the next as shown earlier. This is a good statement from the UK mortgage broker or advisor along with independent mortgage advisor status, as the Independent Mortgage Broker & Mortgage Advisor Online will be working for you and be accountable to you. However, the term is sometimes cleverly misused, as to what the client might expect this to mean; to what is actually meant, as a required statement by the FCA.

And what is even more scandalous, is that some very well-known mortgage broker firms, including well-known estate agency owned mortgage firms are selling well known life insurance with 'Loaded' policies. A loaded policy is one where the monthly premium is loaded by say 15% and the life provider pays the broker more commission.

For example; £35 per month Life policy loaded by 15% means you would pay £40.25 per month for exactly the same policy with exactly the same provider should you have got it elsewhere, like from Vincent Burch.

An UK mortgage broker or independent mortgage advisor who offers 'Independent Mortgage Advice' is also a good thing for the client, as again they are acting on behalf of the client and therefore are held accountable by the client, should there be any issue at the time of sale, or in future years; with the mortgage advice that has been offered by a UK mortgage broker or independent mortgage advisor. However, the term independent only means that the UK mortgage broker or independent mortgage advisor is charging a fee for their mortgage and insurance services and any money that is usually received by the Independent Mortgage Broker, will be refunded to the client. So yes, you can feel comfortable that the mortgage advice is not being swayed by financial rewards that an advisor or broker might receive, but how far and with how many mortgage lenders or insurance providers, is the mortgage advisor or broker really searching, to achieve the best results for their clients? Ensure they will offer you initial free mortgage advice

A DA, is a firm who is Directly Authorised with the FCA, this firm provides the FCA with reports as to its business, usually bi-annually. It is more common for a larger firm to be a DA, as they have the financial resources for their own compliance department to ensure their advisors or brokers, are conducting business compliantly. A DA firm has all the freedom do business with anyone. But in reality with the larger firms, this consists of too much business going in too many directions, so it will mostly only regularly deal with a smaller number of mortgage lenders or insurance providers. Restricting the number of firms a DA chooses to do business with usually means higher volumes for those firms and the DA can demand a higher financial reward. As with all advisors and brokers there are both good and bad DAs.

An AR, is a firm which works under the umbrella of a Network, which is directly authorised with the FCA. The Network will carry out all the regulatory reporting for its members. It is more common for a small or medium size UK mortgage broker or independent mortgage advisor firm to be an AR, as the Network provides all the resources for necessary compliance. However, like all mortgage advisors or brokers, some Networks are better than others. There are Networks that restrict the UK mortgage broker or independent mortgage advisor to a limited panel of lenders, a small choice of protection assurance providers and even a single general insurance provider. But they should you initial free mortgage advice

Registered Introducers, are firms which refer regular business to an authorised firm, for receipt of financial rewards for introducing its business. Such as, an estate agent, a letting agent or a house building firm. It's not only for mortgages, as a business such as a car dealer, selling car finance will be an RI, if they do not have the resources or qualifications to conduct the business themselves.

If you want an Independent Mortgage Broker & Mortgage Advisor Online working for you and to be held personally accountable to you for their advice, then ensure that your UK mortgage broker, is either WOM or Independent and should offer you initial free mortgage advice. It doesn't matter whether they are an AR or a DA, but you must then further ensure, how representative of the mortgage lender or insurance provider market place, is the UK mortgage broker or advisor and also, be certain that you ensure their assurance policies are not loaded.

Remember when using a Tied Agent or a Multi-Tied Agent, you are doing so at your own risk and that they are working for the firms they represent and not you, the client. So ensure that you research the market and remember, that just because they might offer a good rate on a mortgage, their mortgage related insurances may not be as competitive and this can be bought elsewhere. The way insurance related products were sold by the banks is currently the largest source of complaints at the Financial Service Ombudsman.