Specialist lender responds to sector growth with broker-led distribution
Specialist lender OSB Group has announced the launch of Rely, a new brand aimed at supporting the UK’s private rented sector through dedicated buy-to-let lending.
Rely has been developed to provide tailored support for landlords at all stages — from first-time investors to experienced portfolio owners.
The new brand will operate exclusively through brokers and aims to simplify the mortgage process through a data-driven platform that improves speed and decision-making accuracy. The platform, shaped with broker input, features automated underwriting and digital capabilities intended to streamline applications.
Key features include a quick broker registration process, dynamic property valuations, and integration with 14 vendors, enabling faster application decisions and potential same-day offers. OSB says the system could reduce broker input time by up to 50% and cut overall processing time by at least 25%.
Additional services include a fully digital post-offer journey and integration with LMS for conveyancing and same-day fund transfers.
The brand launch announcement follows rising tenant numbers, projected to climb 15% over the next five years, and an identified housing shortfall of 4.3 million homes. Demand in the sector the sector is certainly growing. According to data from Finder, the UK had 4.7 million buy-to-let homes at the end of 2024 — accounting for one in five households — with the market now valued at £20.5 billion, a 12% increase from £18.3 billion the previous year.
“We’ve been working on this exciting new investor brand Rely for over 18 months and partnered with ‘best in class’ technical experts to ensure we’re delivering an experience that will support brokers with their pain points while offering much faster and smoother processing,” said Adrian Moloney (pictured), group intermediary director at OSB Group.
“By enhancing the group’s current buy-to-let products and services, and placing them under the Rely brand, we’ve effectively created a buy-to-let powerhouse, drawing on the same expertise and experience that our broker partners will already be familiar with.”
The lender confirmed that over time, it plans to phase out the Kent Reliance for Intermediaries brand. Its residential lending will transition to Precise Mortgages, which will also handle bridging, while InterBay will continue to focus on commercial finance.
Rely’s official launch is expected to take place this summer.
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