Prestige relaunches its range of Secured Loans

The expansion in the UK Secured loan market that we have been talking about since January continues. Today it's the turn of Prestige, the Secured Loan lender taken over by OneSavings Bank last August, as they have relaunched their range of Secured loans - a move that has been eagerly awaited by market participants. Historically Prestige has been noted as a lender of last resort with rates among the highest in the market but also considerable flexibility to match. They have traditionally lent to those with heavy adverse credit and limited income as long as they had sufficient equity in their property. Now you can forget all that as Prestige have firmly repositioned themselves in the already congested prime secured loan market. Today's announcement will see the following changes to their offering:

• A new max loan size of £75,000 (up from £40,000 previously)
• Max LTV increase to 75% (from 60%)
• More competitive rates starting as low as 6.75% and going up to 14.5 across six plans
• Most plans allow for no historic mortgage arrears in the last 2 years - a big change from their previous product - and no more than 2 current arrears
• Minimum Equifax credit scores of 400 are now required (though some will accept 300 and one plan has no such requirement)
• Most plans also only allow 1 missed unsecured loan payment in the last 12 months (though one of the more expensive plans does allow up to 3 with only 1 in the last 3 months)
• Minimum property value allowable rises to £100,000 (from £75,000)
• CCJs of more than 1 year ago that have been satisfied can be ignored
• CCJs or Defaults under £300 can also be ignored, even if not satisfied

In our view this move is a huge shame really as the market already has sufficient competition in the prime space but the sub-prime product they once offered was quite unique and provided options to clients who otherwise couldn't get a loan. So this move, we think, will reduce the overall number of client who can get a loan though some that would otherwise have been serviced by the prime lenders such as Nemo and Shawbrook may now get their funds at marginally better rates. Additionally, this range of loans is only available through a select number of brokers as Prestige continue to keep their product available only via restricted access. Fortunately here at Choice Loans we do have access to these loans and if you would like to apply or learn more, either call us on 0845 1260350 or complete our Secured Loan Enquiry form here.