What’s the story with mortgage intermediaries?
Over recent weeks mortgage intermediaries have expressed concern because they are being left out in the cold when it comes to the availability of many mortgages to offer to consumers, with a rising number of lenders deciding to offer certain deals exclusive to direct customers only, or to offer certain mortgage at a lower rate to those that apply directly through the lender rather than through a broker.
One industry official commented: “With continuing uncertainty in the mortgage market and the total number of products continuing to decline, many more people will be considering approaching an intermediary to find them the best mortgage deal for their circumstances. However, many intermediaries are finding that their choice of products to recommend to clients has been increasingly restricted as more loan lenders move to offer their most competitive products just for direct only business.”
He added: “Just 49% of deals on the market today are exclusive to intermediaries, whilst 23% are available through both intermediaries and direct business. Although intermediaries have 72% of the market to advise on, it’s the deals that are available direct from lenders which are the most competitive. The top 13 deals for a two-year fixed rate mortgage are only available direct, and of the top 20 deals only three are available via intermediaries.”
He went on to state: “This reduction in competitive deals has led Jonathan Fischel, head of mortgages and credit unions department at the Financial Services Authority to advise intermediaries to advise on direct only products, and charge a fee for the advice given.” He added: “However at the moment, the majority of lenders are now receiving more business than they can actually process. If the products that are currently only available direct were also made available to intermediaries, then the lenders would no doubt find other ways to restrict their business volumes, such as further tightening their lending criteria.”
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