OakNorth launches new SME and HNW mortgage range

The bank says it will lend from £500,000, but will consider loans above £250,000 in "exceptional cases".

Since its launch in September 2015, OakNorth has provided over £3bn in bespoke loans to UK entrepreneurs.

The challenger has now appointed three experienced mortgage advisers – Kevin Appleton, Matthew McDonald and Mark Howell - to help launch its new retail mortgage range.

Kevin joins from the Financial Ombudsman Service where he helped resolve disputes between financial businesses and their customers. Prior to this, he was a mortgage broker and also spent 18 years with the RBS Group (RBS Bank, Coutts and Co and the NatWest Private Client Group) where he undertook complex credit reviews and applications for new and existing borrowers and managed and built a portfolio of ultra-high net worth private clients.

Matthew was previously a broker, responsible for generating and transacting business throughout his existing network and by building new relationships with introducers and clients. He also spent 12 years at Coutts & Co which saw him responsible for managing and building a portfolio of over 200 high net worth clients with combined assets and liabilities in excess of £250m.

Mark joins from the Bank of Ireland where he was director of marketing and customer management for UK mortgages.

Ben Barbanel, head of debt finance at OakNorth, said: “High-street banks have limited mortgage offerings when it comes to borrowers who don’t have a regular or established source of income, such as the self-employed or business owners. Private banks, on the other hand, tend to have high entry requirements that are unfavourable to most of these individuals. Lenders are typically unwilling to offer bespoke terms to their mortgage products and as a result, more than one in ten business owners in the UK are unable to access the finance they need to purchase their first home.

“By leveraging our experience in creating tailored loans for businesses, we can plug this gap and provide our growing portfolio of property investors and developers with mortgage solutions that are attractive, quick, convenient and easy to use.”