The Brightstar Group will be marking and supporting Mental Health Awareness Week between 12th and 18th May, continuing to raise awareness and encourage openness across the business around the issue of mental health.   The Mental Health Foundation has hosted Mental...

As part of World Earth Day, the Brightstar Group has published its first ever ESG Report in what is believes will help set the benchmark for reporting on ESG within the Specialist Finance sector. The 2025 report shares significant insights in the achievements of the...

Second Charge Watch: Time to form a new habit You don’t need to be an expert in second charge mortgages to offer them to your clients — just to spot the opportunity.   ‘I don’t do second charges.’ It’s a phrase I continue to hear from brokers more often than...

William Lloyd-Hayward shares his perspective on the progress being made for LGBTQ+ employees and customers in Financial Services and opens up about his motivations behind the Pride in Finance Alliance (PIFA). The question of how much progress has been made when it...

The commercial property market, like the residential market, has faced a challenging 2023. However there are reasons to be positive as we look ahead to 2024. First, the market is becoming more competitive, rates have started to drop and we have seen the return of...

Interest rate rises earlier this year hit the Buy to Let market hard, given that affordability for these clients is based almost entirely on a direct calculation of the rental income compared to the monthly mortgage payments. However, lenders have responded with the...

Brokers have had many frustrations to deal with this year, with frequent rate changes to deal putting a squeeze on customer affordability. Another issue has been the length of time that some property transactions are taking to complete, with the protracted process...

Mortgage borrowers are shifting their mindset. They are getting used to the new rate environment and increasingly taking more practical decisions regarding their future. As we move into the new year and households start to think about needing more space for their...

Affordability has consistently been an issue for customers throughout this year, as the ongoing cost-of-living crisis has increased monthly expenditure for all households at the same time as higher rates have restricted the loan sizes available to customers. However,...

The trend for property investors to explore alternative opportunities, such as semi-commercial, continues and lenders are responding with improved propositions and more competitive rates. Semi-commercial contains elements of both residential property and commercial...

Recent research from Paragon found that three quarters of landlords (74%) intend to buy property in the next a year plan to use a limited company structure. This is the highest recorded by the survey and is up from 62% in the first quarter of this year. This statistic...

The slowdown in the property market means it is now taking nearly twice as long to sell a home than it did last year. This is according to data released earlier this year that showed properties took an average of 49 days to sell in May, compared to 26 days in May...