Seven years from launch, digital mortgage broker Habito has recorded its first ever monthly profit.
Habito offers a suite of service intended to take the pain out of buying a new house, including its own mortgage products, a digital brokerage service and an end-to-end home-buying package.
The firm recorded its first monthly profit in September. All told, annualised losses are expected to be circa £2m for 2023, down significantly from £10.7m in 2022. The company says it is on track to reach full-year profitability by the end of 2024.
So far this year, Habito has signed up 25,000 new customers, bringing its total to 550,000 since launching in 2016.
The move into profit follows the recent appointment of Ying Tan as CEO, with a mission to control costs and create a fast-track route to sustainable growth. A former investment banker at Goldman Sachs, Tan founded mortgage brokerage, Dynamo, in 2006 and grew it to 200 staff before exiting to Connells, the UK’s largest property services businesses in 2021.
Speaking of the challenge at Habito, Tan says: "“Since investing and joining Habito as CEO in May I have been blown away by the dedication and hardwork of the team. It is a long road ahead and the market conditions are challenging but we are very much on the right trajectory,”