Step One Finance Secured Loans

Step One Finance is a Woking-based consumer lender that was established in London in 2010. It is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority and provides loan products including unsecured personal loans, secured loans, guarantor loans and bridging loans.

Those looking for secured loans are often people who want access to larger loan amounts than those offered by unsecured loan providers. They may also want to repay the loan over a longer period of time.

You can usually spend the money borrowed through a secured loan provider on anything, but costly home improvements, debt consolidation, business asset purchasing and large unexpected expenses are other popular reasons to look for a secured loan. If you do use the cash to consolidate existing debt, however, it is important to realise that you may end up repaying more in total as the term of the loan could be extended far beyond your initial deals.

Sometimes, secured loan providers will consider an application from a homeowner with a less-than-perfect credit score because the debt will be secured against a property. However, if you are considering applying for a secured loan, remember that the lender could repossess your property if you fail to meet your repayment obligations.

Step One Finance will lend up £150,000 to homeowners, providing they meet the lending criteria for the maximum loan amount and that the loan plus the existing mortgage on the property does not exceed 95 per cent of the home’s value. Step One Finance will examine criteria such as your income, your existing financial commitment, your employment status, your age, and of course, your homeowner status, before deciding how much to offer you.

Secured loan providers will often offer a more favourable interest rate to borrowers than unsecured loan providers, simply because the risk to them is lower. However, the total repayable could be more if the term of the loan is longer and the repayments are spread over years rather than months, for example. There are also often charges applicable to secured loans, that you need to be aware of. These can include early repayment charges, late repayment charges, arrangement fees and other admin charges.

No. We work alongside a popular secured loan broker called Fluent, who helps our customers source and apply for appropriate loans. However, some lenders will deal with borrowers directly if they prefer not to use a broker.

It takes longer to apply for a secured loan and receive the funds than for an unsecured loan, as many more checks have to take place. This is to protect the borrower who is making a significant financial commitment.