Bradford & Bingley launches own-brand mortgage products

Bradford & Bingley (B&B), the UK’s ninth-largest bank, is introducing own-branded mortgages. The move marks a change of strategy for the bank, which will now stop selling mortgage products on behalf other banks and building societies.

B&B is the UK’s leading lender of buy-to-let mortgages for landlords and will become the first nationwide high street lender of self-certification mortgages. It will also offer mortgages for first-time buyers and general insurance and personal loans, which will be created with Legal & General.

B&B managing director of group strategy Mark Stevens says there is demand for more specialist mortgages on the high street.

He says: "We are responding to changes in peoples’ lifestyles. We expect the buy-to-let and ‘self-cert’ markets to continue to grow due to the rise in the number people choosing to rent and the growth in the number of people working for themselves, which now stands at 4 million people."