How is Roma Finance restoring bridging loans despite pandemic?

May 8, 2020 by Brendan O'Neill

Lenders

Roma Finance has announced that it will once more be offering bridging loans to prospective homebuyers, with the company having introduced new practices to enable it to do this without breaching coronavirus regulations.

It will be employing a combination of automated and remote desktop valuation models to allow it to return to providing these loans. Roma was forced to call a temporary halt to all new applications for loans in late March, after the government imposed lockdown to restrict the spread of the virus.

In announcing its return to the fray, a spokesperson for Roma stated that the company had been using the time between then and now to look at tech solutions to allow it to get back to lending without putting the health of employees and the public in danger by breaching social distancing rules. The new desktop valuations procedure will involve customers taking pictures of the properties they are selling that Roma will use to set valuations.

The company has also confirmed that many of its staff who were furloughed when the lockdown was announced will now be able to return to work. Scott Marshall, its managing director, told Mortgage Solutions:

“The current climate will create new buying opportunities for our customers, and we are pleased to have found a revolutionary way to support them, so they can continue to create wealth for themselves and their families.”

Advisors with the CeMAP qualification will be among those who are able to start working for the firm again now.