Precise sews up bridging distribution

Ingard Financial, Mortgageforce, Pink Home Loans and Personal Touch Financial Services have also signed a deal with Precise to recommend their bridging products to members.

Precise said distributors were increasingly conscious of bridging as a growth area and had chosen to appoint a panel lender to manage risk for members doing business in the short-term sector.

Members are being incentivised to use Precise with a higher proc fee than they would be paid if they choose to go off panel to another bridging lender or packager.

The lender said proc fees payable varied by distributor but were "the best in the short-term market".

Alan Cleary, managing director of Precise Mortgages, said: “We’ve partnered with these distributors in a bid to clean up the bridging market which at the moment is a minefield for borrowers.

"I have taken a good look at this market and in my opinion many bridging lenders have a different view of what the word transparent means.

"There is a myriad of interest and fee charging methods many of which are not good for the borrower and this is compounded by the inconsistent information provided to borrowers which makes deal comparison almost impossible.

"Precise Mortgages has a principal to treat all types of lending secured on residential property in a manner consistent with FSA regulation.”

Robert Sinclair, director of the association of Mortgage Intermediaries, added: “I have said before that any regulated intermediary who places bridging loans with an unregulated lender should be very careful, in my opinion all residential bridging should be treated as though it is a regulated product.”