New lender halts controversial mortgages after just 4 days

New lender halts controversial mortgages after just 4 days




A self-certification mortgage lender has stopped accepting new applications just four days after it was launched..

A self-certification mortgage lender has stopped accepting new applications just four days after it was launched.

Self Cert opened for business earlier this week but its website failed to deal with a higher than expected level of demand.

The firm said it has a backlog of around 4,700 emails to deal with even though it has only enough funds available for 250-300 average-sized mortgages.

Self Cert said on its website: “We have ceased taking new applications until further notice, this will be at least three months.

“We are currently working through a severe backlog of people that have registered an interest in these products.

“The last thing we want at the moment is to try and get any more interest, or get anyone's hopes up.”

Self-certification mortgages were banned in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2014, but Self Cert has managed to side-step this by basing itself in the Czech Republic.

The firm’s ‘About Us’ page says: “Being out in the Czech Republic allows us freedom to make our own lending decisions.

“We are big believers in that we are lending our own money and this should have nothing to do with the government.

“The FCA and UK government have, in our opinion, tried their hardest to prevent competition from entering the market.

“If true competition was allowed in the UK today - several banks would be in real trouble. Competition will always find a way through though.”

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