Foundation Home Loans (FHL) has reported that over 94% of packaged cases received by the end of January completed or were ready for completion prior to the Stamp Duty deadline.

The Bracknell based buy-to-let lender had asked brokers to submit fully packaged cases before the end of January in order to be able to complete in time to ensure that customers did not have to pay the 3% surcharge levied on buy-to-let purchases from 1 April.

Simon Bayley, the firm’s commercial director, said Foundation Home Loans’ staff worked closely with packaging partners to meet the demand and deadline. In addition, 36% of completions in March were on cases submitted after the January deadline but we were still able to get these through to completion.

He said: “Thanks to the cooperation between our partners (especially valuation and conveyancing partners) and the underwriting and support teams at FHL, we achieved a near perfect result. The 6% of cases which did not make it were invariably down to factors beyond our control such as valuation access issues or  reoffers.

“We have proved that with the right staff and the ever closer relationship we have developed with our partners, the intermediary community can be assured that placing their clients with us means they will receive the best service available. In the coming months, we will be announcing important enhancements to the service to keep us at the pinnacle of customer service.”