Sharia finance specialist Gatehouse Bank has grown its home finance portfolio by 15% year-on-year to £1.2bn, according to its latest financial results.
According to Gatehouse Bank’s results, the growth in home finance was supported by enhancements to its green home finance range, which is now available to UK expats and international residents as well as UK residents.
Home finance covers home purchase plans, which are for owner-occupiers, and buy-to-let (BTL) plans that are aimed at property investors.
The company added that it launched a live chat facility as part of its “digitalisation facility” to allow new customers to converse directly with it, and its online decision in principle (DIP) service for customers was popular, with almost 3,500 completed in 2023.
Gatehouse Bank added that its direct-to-consumer (D2C) finance advisory team made up 35% of its total originations, which it said was part of its strategy of “embracing both direct and intermediated customers”.
It said that it continued to strengthen relationships with the intermediary market, with “more active brokers” registered to introduce clients to the firm in 2023.
The company’s post-tax profit came to £3.2m in the period.
Build to rent performance ‘remained favourable’
Gatehouse Bank established a build to rent group as a “vertically integrated residential investment and management platform” consisting of Gatehouse Investment Management and Ascend Estates.
The platform covers acquisitions, structuring, lettings and management.
Gatehouse Investment Management has launched four institutional single-family rental platforms and Ascend manages over 10,000 homes.
The group also embarked on a strategic joint venture with The Carlyle Group to buy new-build, single-family homes from housebuilders such as Gleeson, Persimmons, Bovis and Bellway Homes.
Gatehouse Bank said that the overall performance of the portfolio “remained favourable”, with strong year-on-year rental growth and high occupancy.
Gatehouse Bank working on ‘additional home finance options’
Looking ahead, the company added that it was working on “additional home finance options” to help customers improve the energy efficiency of their properties, and it aimed to launch these in 2024.
The company said it would continue to work closely with Gatehouse Investment Management and Ascend as it would “further cement our position as a lead in the institutional build to rent field.”
Gatehouse Bank is also planning its next “IT-led enhancement” for customers and plans to “deliver significant new offerings during 2024 and beyond”.
Gatehouse Bank showed ‘business progress and sustained growth’
Fahed Boodai, chair of Gatehouse Bank, said he was “incredibly proud of our business progress and sustained growth, particularly amidst the uncertain macroeconomic backdrop and challenges faced by UK-centric home finance providers over the last year”.
He added: “Our annual results illustrate four years of consecutive profitability for the bank, which is a significant milestone as the business continues to mature.”
Charles Haresnape, CEO of Gatehouse Bank, continued: “Our customers remained at the heart of the bank’s strategy as we enhanced our product offering for savers, homeowners and landlords and upheld our digital-first ethos. Our excellent level of service was reflected in our net promoter score of +53 at the end of the year, which is the highest in Gatehouse Bank’s history.
“As a founding signatory to the UN Principles for Responsible Banking, we continued to positively engage with the United Nations on progress against our targets, particularly around the environment and financial health and inclusion.
“We have outlined a clear action plan on how to continue meeting these targets, and we remain dedicated to operating according to the Sharia principles of fairness and transparency and doing right by the communities we serve.”
Anna is currently the deputy editor for Mortgage Solutions and editor for Specialist Lending Solutions. She has worked as a journalist since 2019, having secured her Gold Standard NCTJ diploma from News Associates in a fast-track six-month course.
She started her career as a report at specialist publication The Insurance Insider covering a wide range of areas before joining Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions in 2021.
In her role, she helps put together and structure the news agenda for the day and writes up press releases, reports, interviews, analyses and exclusives across both titles. She also commissions blogs for Specialist Lending Solutions and hosts online masterclasses and in-person events across the business.
She has been shortlisted for three journalism awards, which include BIBA Journalist and Media Awards Scoop of Year Award in 2020, Headline Money Mortgage Journalist of the Year Award (B2B) in 2022 and 2023.
Prior to being a journalist, Anna worked in ecommerce across Snow + Rock, Cycle Surgery and Runners Need websites, and before that worked at specialist financial PR firm Rostrum.
In her spare time, Anna enjoys reading, seeing live music, and cooking for friends and family. When she gets a chance, she also enjoys hiking, skiing and indoor rock climbing.