Buy-to-let lender Landbay has embarked upon a new partnership with property data provider, WhenFresh, to speed up its underwriting process.

WhenFresh brings together more than 200 proprietary, private and public datasets, including sources such as environmental, geographical and market data, to determine property attributes and risk.

Its data will now help Landbay in minimising risk and making informed decisions faster by building a complete picture of the property, which supports the latest range of automated valuation model (AVM) products.

Last month, Landbay became the first dedicated buy-to-let lender to integrate an automated valuation model to speed up offer times. During its pilot, it found that it is on average, three times faster than a standard application and can also help reduce fees by on average £500.

AVMs are available on a new standalone range of five-year fixed-rate products, with a maximum property value of £750,000 at 70% loan-to-value (LTV). Rates start at 4.29% and are stressed at payrate, with Landbay’s variable fee structure also available for increased affordability.

Joel Vinnicombe (pictured), head of product at Landbay, said: “A key component to the success of using an AVM is additional robust, good quality data and we certainly have this through our partnership with WhenFresh. The strength and depth of their property data enables us to make those informed decisions very quickly and with real confidence.

“Landbay has always been a progressive lender, utilising technology and leading data providers to improve our service and inform our approach to lending. We are grateful for the team at WhenFresh and thank them for their expertise and ongoing support.”

Mark Cunningham, director & co-founder of WhenFresh, added: “As the UK’s residential property data bureau, WhenFresh provides API access to the data Landbay needs to instantly screen against lending rules and LTV criteria, to deliver what is effectively a digital ‘Decision In Principle’ on the property, in seconds. Flagging unsuitable properties right at the start of the origination process and looping them back to the brokers enables Landbay to provide a faster, better service and to avoid wasting time and money processing applications that would have failed at a later stage.

“We are delighted to be playing our part in the launch of Landbay’s new AVM and with a shared passion for technology and innovation, we look forward to supporting their efforts to bring greater efficiencies to the buy-to-let mortgage process.”