UK bankers shunned by mortgage lenders turn to private banks

Employees in London’s financial services industry are turning to private banks for luxury home loans as the biggest mortgage lenders are deterred by limits on cash bonuses. Lending by private banks climbed by as much as 40 percent in the past year, according to Private Finance, a London-based broker that arranges mortgages worth an average £700,000 ($1m). Bonus-earners accounted for about half the rise, the broker said. Dealmakers, once courted by lenders, are finding it harder to get mortgages from Main Street lenders as employers pay bonuses in stock over years and introduce clauses allowing them to claw back payments in the event of future losses.