UTB Mortgages for Intermediaries has made its online decision in principle process available for all its buy-to-let products, which it says “substantially enhances the existing service and conversion benefits to brokers”. 

The bank’s broker-only arm says until recently, the majority of its BTL applications were referred for a manual underwriting review, but following a successful trial, brokers will now see an immediate pass, fail or refer decision on its broker portal decision in principle results screen. 

The business says:

• A pass is an approval, valid for 30 days. Further information will also appear 
• A fail is a decline, the lender will not proceed. A reason will be provided 
• A refer means further manual review by the bank is required. It will respond in two hours 

The lender points out that these new functions combined with existing features such as remote ID verification and secure document upload via the UTB app, “accelerates and simplifies the BTL application process”. 

It adds that a pass decision triggers an automated underwriting process.  

The firm says information already keyed in by brokers, combined with a series of application programming interface integrations with third-party providers, such as Equifax and Hometrack, which creates a bespoke set of requirements for each case. It says that, for example, the system will already recognise if the applicant is an individual or special purpose vehicle and request specific information relating to that scenario. 

The lender points out that once brokers have gathered the necessary application requirements, documents can be uploaded and the case submitted as normal. After a full mortgage application, all the information will be assessed by a mandated underwriter, and the bank will liaise with the introducer regarding any further information required before a mortgage offer can be issued. 

United Trust Bank sales director – mortgages Mike Walters says: “After rigorous testing, the technology which enables us to increase our BTL capacity is now up and running, providing brokers with BTL cases access to the same quick and straightforward application journey, which powers our residential mortgage offering.”