"Our smaller loans may be suitable for customers who are finding it harder to qualify for further advances as high street banks tighten their criteria"
- James Briggs, head of intermediary sales at Together, said:
Together has launched a new second charge smaller loan proposition, designed to help brokers’ customers consolidate their debt.
The lender's current minimum second charge loan size of £30,000 will be reduced to £20,000 to meet the needs of more clients.
These may include people who may have spent on credit and store cards, or taken out loans over Christmas, and may be looking for smaller loan sizes. They are also available for a variety of other purposes, including clients looking to carry out home improvements.
Two and five-year fixed rate products are offered to Together’s Prime Plus customers – those who have had no demerits in the last 12 months - with rates starting at 12.20% for two-year products and 10.35% for five years.
The product also comes with a lower arrangement fee, which has been reduced from £1,495 to £995, and commission remains unchanged at 2%.
The new smaller loans can be secured against non-standard properties, while Together will also consider self-employed clients or those with complex incomes.
Rates for loans of between £50,000 and £250,000 have also been reduced and now start from 8.99% for the lender’s five-year fixed Prime Plus product and 9.24% for customers who have had up to three demerits in the past 12 months.
Research carried out by Together among its broker partners identified a demand for smaller loans from borrowers who may be struggling to pay off unsecured debt during the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
Credit card debt rose to £68.9 billion in November 2023 – 8.6% higher than the year before - as interest rates on repayments reached new heights of nearly 24%, according to the latest Bank of England figures.
The data revealed that the average representative credit card interest rate in the UK was 23.9% - the highest on record. On average, adults in the UK with at least one credit card has £2,001 in credit card debt while the average household owes £2,438.
James Briggs, head of intermediary sales at Together, said: “Many borrowers will have overspent on credit and store cards over the Christmas period, which will have put more pressure on household finances caused by the cost-of-living crisis which, thankfully, is showing signs of easing slightly.
“Our smaller second charge loans will be available for broker’s clients, to help support them in moving away from more expensive lines of unsecured credit, to a secured loan, with a single, manageable monthly repayment and a product end date. This may, for the right customer, give them greater control of their overall expenditure.
“Our smaller loans may be suitable for customers who are finding it harder to qualify for further advances as high street banks tighten their criteria, or for people who currently have a low rate on their first charge mortgage, which they don’t want to disturb.
“We hope to meet the ambitions of our broker partners by offering more options for clients seeking Together’s flexible product offering.”
