Harry Pleasance

What do you enjoy about the specialist finance market?

Harry has worked in various financial fields in his time, but it’s specialist lending that has proven most fulfilling for him. Why so?

“I think it’s just the ability to help somebody or support a client or broker who either didn’t think it was possible to find a way forward for their case, or didn’t think it would be as straightforward as maybe it turned out to be,” he said.

“I’ve worked for a couple of different specialist lenders, including Market Financial Solutions, and clients are generally more grateful and more, I guess, happy for lack of a better word when things go well, and we’ve actually managed to help them with a deal.”

As Harry alluded to, many investors are often surprised by just how flexible specialist finance can be. We’re there for borrowers whose cases other lenders may struggle to process due to their tick box lending criteria.

Harry, more than many, understands these challenges borrowers face in the current market. That extra bit of experience he has goes a long way.

What is it that you offer to brokers that work with you?

“I’ve worked across several different financial institutions, which includes working on SIPPs, later life products, high street banking deals, and more,” he said.

“So, I like to think all that experience comes together where I can actually add a bit of value to a client’s business or operations. Obviously, that may just involve the underlying loan we issue.

“But if my brokers are looking to understand a bit more about what’s going on in the adverse residential scene, or perhaps the later lifestyle market, I’ve got that fairly widespread experience that allows me to offer a bit of insight.”

Obviously, Harry, along with all of our staff, will never give advice on how any borrower should invest. But, for brokers looking for an intelligent, tuned in counterpoint to discuss the world of finance, rather than someone who simply says yes or no to an enquiry, Harry is there.

What would you like to see introduced or prioritised in the specialist finance market?

Evidently, there are benefits to utilising specialist finance. For Harry, the challenge is in getting that point out there.

“I think we just need more industry led education. Brokers maybe don’t always understand the benefit of advising on these types of deals for their businesses, for their clients, for their reputation, for cash flows, for all sorts of reasoning.

“It’s not their fault. It’s just maybe that they’ve not ever been exposed to any education about why it’s beneficial.”

This is something we actively try to rectify at Market Financial Solutions. Over the last few years, we’ve produced as much educational content as possible to keep the market up to speed on all things bridging.

This includes blogs, guides, research reports, podcasts and more. But we know there’s still work to do on this front, and so we will continue to shine a light on everything that specialist finance can do for UK property investors.

“There’s tons of news articles, and press, and marketing messages out there,” Harry continued.

“But it’s often on first time buyers, remortgaging – simple stuff like that. There is so much more that bridging can help with though, and we need to make that clearer.”

Where do you think there’s opportunity for property investors, and where would you like to see more funding directed to?

For Harry, it’s a “bit too early to say”, given his tenure at Market Financial Solutions. Still, with his years of experience, there are certain corners of the market that may always offer a safe haven.

“Arguably, there’s huge potential in the London market, because it tends to be less affected when things go wrong in the rest of the country.

“It is more expensive, and there’s probably less supply, but it does weather the storm much better.”

Are there any typical borrowers or cases that you tend to work with?

While Harry may be too new to have built up an identifiable client base, there are a few shifts in the market he’s noticed which could direct how he operates moving forward.

“I think any semi and/or commercial term deals will be really strong for us,” he said.

He is also very excited for how our new products will be able to help the brokers he works with. Specifically, our commercial BTL mortgages and Bridge Fusion product hold a lot of potential.

What do you do to get your mind off the world of property finance?

The leafy plains of Kent are only really good for one thing for an up-and-coming BDM.

“I like playing golf. Badly,” Harry admitted, with a tinge of both pride and regret.

“I also like Formula 1. Most weekends are spent focusing on racing, and I’m also just a big social advocate.

“If there’s any mention of anything that’s going on – I’m going.”

It seems Harry is at risk of regularly suffering from a bit of FOMO. Fortunately for you, this may make it easy to book in a meeting! Harry is likely to want to fill any spare hour he has in his diary so if you’d like to take that slot, give him a call today.