have had a positive start to the year with more people coming through the door looking for advice. Some lenders are helping too, there


are more first time buyer mortgages available at 90% loan to value and more lenders are interested in the buy-to-let market this year. Lenders understand that the risks aren’t as great in the current market, with house prices staying broadly the same, so they are starting to innovate again, while also pricing for sustainable margins. This will make for a much more stable market in the future and will also help lenders to make more funds available for those who want to move house or get onto the property ladder, which is good news for everyone. While there is a growing consensus that the Bank of England is likely to raise the base rate this year, just the talk of rates rising is encouraging more remortgaging. When rates do finally rise, we expect there to be an even greater rise in remortgage activity and a sharp upswing in the number of people looking for advice. Over all we expect it to be a fairly stable year this year, the advisers who have got through the last two or three years tend to be professional people with stronger business models. Many more advisers are putting a focus on good client management and working their existing client database with a strong emphasis on protection and cross sales. Protection and general insurance sales really are key to survival in the current market; while the mortgage sale will always be the biggest hook for clients, protection and general insurance are the elements that will provide advisers with a steady ongoing income and provide a firm business foundation for adviser businesses over the next few years.


mortgage introducer MARCH 2011 25


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