look4aproperty.com Multi-Million Pound Loan Scheme

Late last year James Caan, entrepreneur and star of the BBC’s popular business pitching show, Dragon’s Den, became chairman of independent UK property portal look4aproperty.com, in which he took a 25 percent stake.

look4aproperty.com was established in 2004, by young entrepreneur Aaron Turner. At the time of Caan’s arrival as chairman, both Caan and Turner said they planned to announce a series of new products to kick-start the struggling UK housing market in the New Year.

That time has now come, with the portal announcing an multi-million pound innovative new scheme to boost business for estate agents.

A blog from the company reveals that Caan is backing an “unprecedented package” to take the pain out of buying and selling a home by offering interest-free loans to cover unavoidable costs such as stamp duty and legal fees. Consumers will access the loans through a network of carefully selected estate agents across the UK.

According to Aaron Turner the stress of finding the money to pay stamp duty is a major reason why many people aren’t moving house.

James Caan says the scheme is all about getting liquidity back into the property market:

“A healthy housing market is the lifeblood of the UK economy. This country needs sound initiatives to get things moving again – so we have launched Look4AProperty|Money.”

“This scheme gets rid of those financial obstacles which are holding up the housing market. This means that thousands of people who have been putting off moving or buying their first home can now climb up the property ladder without further delays.”

Every home buyer in the UK is entitled to apply for an interest free loan (subject to status). All buyers need to do is to ask their local estate agent to arrange it for them as part of the offer they make on the property they wish to buy. Loans can be spread over two or three years – interest free. Look4AProperty|Money will also offer a 10-month loan to cover the cost of a HIP.

The product has been launched with the backing of Hitachi Capital (UK) PLC. Gerald Grimes, divisional managing director, Hitachi Capital Consumer Finance says the initiative provides a much needed shot in the arm for the UK property market:

“This is huge leap forward for the market and for thousands of people who want to buy or sell a home but can’t find the extra money to make it happen. Using Hitachi Capital’s interest free credit options, Look4AProperty|Money is a quick and efficient way for people to get that extra injection of cash they need at a time when money can be tight. When James Caan and Aaron Turner came to us with the proposition, we knew that with our 27 years of experience in consumer finance, we could help house buyers get the home they want.”

Facilitating Look4AProperty|Money will be LMS, one of the UK leading providers of conveyancing services to both the estate agent and mortgage lender industry. LMS count HSBC, Abbey and Nationwide as key clients.

look4aproperty.com currently features over 200,000 UK sale and rental properties as well as overseas listings. look4aproperty.com says that the loans are just the first in a number of new products due to be rolled out this year.

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