United Trust Bank (UTB) has made changes to its team with the announcement of appointments and new roles.
The specialist lender has appointed Barry Luhmann (pictured, left) to the newly created role of customer support and strategy director for mortgages. He joined UTB in 2022 as head of buy to let (BTL) ahead of its launch into the BTL market.
For the year to date, the lender’s BTL mortgage completions are 35% higher than the whole of last year, while applications are up by 53%.
In his new role, Luhmann will work with Buster Tolfree, director of mortgages, in developing and delivering the lender’s growth.
UTB has promoted Dave Burke (pictured, right) to the role of head of BTL underwriting, succeeding Luhmann in the position. He will lead the BTL underwriting team and be responsible for providing a streamlined, high-quality service to introducers.
Burke was previously the new lending manager in UTB’s mortgages team, and the lender will announce his replacement shortly. Burke has worked for the lender for seven years.
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Tolfree said: “Our move into the buy-to-let mortgage market has been a real success story and Barry has played a key part in that. I’m delighted that he is moving into this newly created role, helping to shape the future of this fast-growing mortgage business as we look to develop our offering and distribution. Dave has had a similarly great year and will do an excellent job heading up buy-to-let underwriting.
“The product continues to go from strength to strength as brokers turn on to our flexible criteria and strong appetite to support landlords seeking value and higher yields by diversifying with more unusual rental properties.”
He added: “We love giving our people the opportunity to grow and take on new challenges and we always look to promote from within where possible. As one of the fastest growing divisions of the bank, I’m sure it won’t be long before we share more exciting team news.”
UTB launches sub-6% second charge rates
UTB also announced reductions across its second charge mortgage range, with cuts of as much as 1.64% bringing rates as low as 5.99%.
The lender has claimed to be the first lender offering rates this low on second charge products since the September 2022 mini Budget.
The 5.99% rate applies to a five-year fix within its prime-plus plan, while the option with no early repayment charge (ERC) is priced at 6.55%.
Across its prime plans, second charge rates start from 6.65% for five-year fixes and 6.75% with no ERC.
The equivalent near-prime plan product rates begin from 7.39% and 7.49% respectively.
Tolfree said: “We have been in the seconds market for a good few years now we know what brokers and consumers want. They want us [to] pass on our ability to reduce rates as soon as we can and by as much as we can, so that’s what we’ve done.
“As a leading lender in the seconds space, we have a responsibility to do the right thing by brokers and customers and our commitment to delivering on our promise is demonstrated by the many awards we have won over the years and the many more awards shortlistings we currently have in play.”
He added: “We love seconds. We love how they can help people change their lives and reach their goals and we do all we can to promote the market and encourage brokers to consider them. We offer great rates, great criteria, slick processing and fast completions. Where we lead, we hope others will follow.”
