Banking start-up Perenna has appointed a chief technology officer to work on its planned launch.

The lender is awaiting regulatory approval from the Prudential Regulation Authority and the FCA, but is hoping to be ready to launch mortgage deals by late summer 2021.

Perenna is intending to offer flexible long-term fixed rate mortgages funded by covered bonds.

New CTO Dan Pass joins from personal loans provider Oplo and has previously worked for secured lender 1st Stop and gambling firm Betfred.

Perenna plans to harness technology to make the issuance of bonds as efficient as possible as well as to deliver a fast and secure mortgage application process.

It says that covered bond funding has the benefit of being highly liquid and will allow the lender to offer long-term rates without borrowers being locked in.

Perenna says sterling long-dated fixed-rate bonds are in high demand from pension and insurance funds as they deliver income yielding products with a higher return than gilts. 

It says the funding model is used successfully in other countries

Chief operating officer Colin Bell says: “Dan is a great visionary of how technology can deliver and facilitate first class processes and I am really looking forward to working with him to deliver mortgages in a way customers will love.” 

Pass adds: “I’m delighted to have joined Perenna as we embark on our journey to launch a true next generation mortgage bank. 

“Our fixed for life mortgage is truly innovative and empowering for our customers who thought they may never get onto the property ladder. 

“Technology has permanently changed customer expectations. 

“The same tech-enabled and simple experiences that are available in many other areas of their lives are critical to our vision.  

“We want to bring those curated experiences to the mortgage process and truly change it for the better.”