Here you can find answers to frequently asked questions

The maximum exposure with Foundation is £5 million. 

Yes it can.

Registering with us is simple and easy. To register, please visit our online registration page. If there's an an urgent case you wish to discuss, please call our team on 0344 770 8032.

We offer different submission routes, including mortgage clubs, networks and packagers. 

Yes we do, with very competitive products.

We do.

There are no minimum income requirements, but we'll need evidence of income.

Please contact our internal Business Development Managers on 0344 770 8032. 

DIPs are generally valid for 30 days, after which point we'd need to re-credit-score and carry out new checks, however, this is subject to the validity of the product chosen.

Yes. Each individual login is set up specifically for each payment route and FCA number.

Yes, the FCA number is included in the username.

Pipeline cases when switching networks or change of FCA number are kept open. You'd need to re-register, however, please call us for help.

Once all the information is completed, you'll need to slide the padlock button to the right.
The form is then unlocked and can be submitted.

No. As per our Intermediary Management Policy, we can only register licenced brokers who are authorised to advise.

Each packager should have a super user who can register their brokers. If you are not sure who that is, or if the super user is absent and you need to register urgently, please email or call.

No - you'll need portal access to submit cases.

No - brokers dealing with only unregulated business are welcome to register, however they'll only be able to submit unregulated business. We may require membership of an industry recognised association as part of our onboarding requirements.

We process registrations within 24 hours (working days only). If the 24 Hours has already passed, please check your spam/junk folder first before calling us.

The Due Diligence form is sent out with login details for directly authorised brokers where we haven't completed due diligence on their firm previously. This includes questions about the shareholders of the firm and PI Insurance details, in order for us to complete our standard compliance checks. If you've been registered prior to 2019 but have never gone through due diligence, you'll still have to go through this process as per our intermediary management policy, even if your cases have completed previously.

Forms will be sent out to any brokers that register for a firm with no due diligence until we receive it back fully completed. However, we only need to receive the form once to complete the process covering the whole firm. Once due diligence checks have been completed, no further chasers will be sent to any registered brokers of the firm.

You can send the form to a director or their firms' compliance team to complete and return to us. If you require the form in a word format, this can be requested from us by phone or email.

Please email or call us.

The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) is the government register which all brokers must be registered with. This ensures they're adhering to Data Protection laws/GDPR - all companies which hold client information should be registered. This is also detailed above the registration form on the website. As per our policy, we will not complete registrations for firms who are not registered with the ICO.

No. Payment is always made to the network/club/packager submission route which you will have chosen at point of registration.

If the case has completed, you should first check with your network/club/packager to see if they've received payment from us. If the network/club/packager is unable to find the payment for that case, it's the network/club/packager we need to speak to so please ask them to call us. The request should ideally come from the payment route, as we cannot provide proof of payment directly to brokers due to sensitive information/bank details etc.

You should email or call us giving details about you leaving the firm. You'll also need to nominate another broker at the firm to take over your pending cases. The nominated broker needs to be registered with us in order for us to give them access to the cases. Cases cannot be transferred over to another broker, but access can be granted to progress.

This could mean you have been inactive for longer than 12 months so it would have been part of our annual inactive broker clear down exercise. If this is the case, please try to re-register and go through our due diligence process again.

Please call us to unlock it. It may have been locked, not deleted, if you've left a firm before pending cases were completed. To submit new business, please register again giving your new firm details.

Here are some examples to show what would be an acceptable Corporate Let here at Foundation.

An example of an acceptable Corporate Let is where the owner has an AST with McDonalds, for example, so that McDonalds can fill it with their staff whenever they need to send their staff to that location.

An example of when we don’t accept Corporate Lets is typically when the owner has an AST with the local Council/Government/third party and they then sublet the property to vulnerable people/non-staff members.

There is no specific product for Corporate Lets, you can choose any of the products on the buy to let guide. These are available for limited companies and Individuals.

Check out our detailed video here about how to complete a portfolio template right first time, showing the different property types and ownership types of the properties in an example portfolio, demonstrating the mandatory fields and how they're formatted.

Read our how to populate a portfolio template

How many bedrooms does the property have, including bedrooms in the self-contained unit? If less than 10 in total, this is classed as a MUFB (Multi-Unit Freehold Block).

If there are up to 10 self-contained flats all under the same freehold with no individual leases set up, this is acceptable as it's classed as a MUFB (Multi-Unit Freehold Block).

We'll require the broker to email the accountant's certificate to their qualified accountant. The accountant will need to provide the last 2 years figures and a projection and reason for the dip in profits.

Yes, but speak to your regional account manager as there's additional underwriting requirements for applicants living in United Arab Emirates (UAE).

It may be, depending on the details. Please email your query and the full Trust document to your Regional Account Manager.

It may be, depending on the details. Please email your query and the full Trust document to your Regional Account Manager.

Yes, subject to valuers’ comments.

Potentially, subject to valuer’s comments and the kitchenettes being safe. It’s always best to refer full details on what actually is in the kitchenettes (such as microwaves, hobs, overs etc) to the Regional Account Manager for them to speak to underwriting.

Yes, subject to valuer’s comments. You are welcome to email the Regional Account Manager the Google Maps link and full address so we can have a look at it with underwriting pre-DIP.

Yes, our Property Plus products allow flats above commercial - subject to a positive valuation

Does it have secure doors, windows, flooring, heating, water supply? It would be subject to valuer’s comments, but always ask the broker “Would you live in it?” If the answer is no, it’s probably not in a lettable condition.

No, it has to be tenanted as an HMO before you can submit the application, so would need to buy it on bridging finance for example then remortgage it to us once the property is an HMO.