Haysto matches customers, based on their profile and financial situation, to a mortgage broker with expert knowledge of securing loans for borrowers in their particular situation.
Traditional lenders and some automated online mortgage platforms may reject some borrowers if they have a less-than-traditional income stream or have a history bad credit.
There are lenders who offer deals to these customers – but they are usually only available through brokers.
Therefore the Haysto platform provides an introduction to these brokers for anyone who has been rejected for a mainstream product or who is worried they may not be approved by going direct to a lender.
Paul Coss, co-founder of Haysto, explained: “Self-employment and poor credit histories are on the rise in the UK, so a growing number of people applying for mortgages simply don’t fit the traditional financial mould.
“Many are being rejected by traditional lenders and online mortgage brokers that can’t see past their situation, while others will be put off from applying at all.”
Coss explained Haysto didn’t simply rely on the ‘computer says no’ approach. Instead the platform provided a personalised mortgage experience by matching customers to specialist mortgage brokers based on their unique situation.
“We want to help everyone access their dream home,” he said.
“Even if they have been rejected before, there are specialist lenders and brokers specifically for self-employed and bad credit mortgages who can help.”
Research carried out by Haysto as part of its launch has found 22% of people turned down for a mortgage blamed their bad credit history and 17% thought it was because they ran their own business.
Coss, who was a specialist broker himself, co-founded Haysto earlier this year after seeing a clear gap in the market for an online platform for customers with complex incomes or credit histories who had been turned down elsewhere.
Case study
Udara Bandera, 52, is just one of the customers he helped. Indeed Bandera turned to Haysto after finding himself £25,000 in debt and with a poor credit rating due to a sustained period of unemployment.
He had been turned down by his bank for a mortgage despite eventually securing a permanent job that allowed him to start paying off his debts, but is now getting ready to move his family into their new home.
He said: “I spoke to six or seven mortgage advisers but they were all telling me different things and it was so confusing. They didn’t seem to understand my situation and I didn’t know who I could trust.”
“I had a lot of support from my specialist Haysto broker and I didn’t feel judged like I had previously. My broker took me through all my options, gave me honest advice and completely put my mind at ease for the first time in ages.
“Thanks to this mortgage and the support I have received from Haysto, I have been able to start my life again. I need to keep slowly building up my credit, and the marks on my credit file won’t go away – even once the debt is paid back – but I am in a much better position compared to any other time over the last five or six years.”
