News Review: Lending
Confidence ebbs but don’t be downbeat by
David Finlay, intermediary channel director, Barclays
Lending figures have formed the cornerstone of the statistical data generated month in, month out and it’s these monthly figures that can create a raft of headlines either highlighting a new dawn or a new collapse. as you might expect quarterly figures tend to tell a much more rounded story of the progression or decline of a market. So it was good to see the council of mortgage Lenders’ third quarter lending figures showing an estimated £38.6bn of lending which signified a 15% increase from the second quarter of this year (£33.5bn) and a 2% increase from the third quarter of 2010 (£37.9bn). However, this also came
with a justified warning that “the housing market is very sensitive to wider
household confidence, and this seems likely to weaken over the coming months in response to the latest spike in consumer prices and headline unemployment figures”. But whilst keeping these
factors in mind let’s not get too downbeat and look to Q4 with the degree of enthusiasm and optimism that the market needs.
Remortgage the remortgage market continues on its steady but generally positive path and this is an encouraging development
especially
when considering the lack of confidence emanating from the eurozone. to illustrate this recent figures released by the cmL showed that remortgaging continued to increase in august with 34,100 loans being taken out (worth £4.2bn) and that year- on-year remortgage figures were up some 30%. However, there is no room
for any complacency and thankfully we continue to
Social media gaining clout
i don’t personally profess to be an expert in social media but thankfully as an organisation we have individuals who are. of course the vast majority of intermediary firms don’t have the luxury of such resources but the art of communication remains vital to business of all shapes and sizes across a variety of mediums. So it was interesting to read that research from aviva suggests just 15% of advisers are using social media to communicate with clients. Face-to-face, telephone and email contact were said to dominate how advisers contacted their clients. it went on to say that advisers are mainly using technology to assist with research and 92% use it to generate product
8 mortgage introducer NOVEMBER 2011
still see plenty of competition and innovation. in the last few months we have seen a number of fixed rates deals slashed and some increases to tracker deals. this reflects the potential volatility of the market and when combined with underlying global uncertainty this highlights the need for homeowners and intermediaries to consider their options carefully. Fortunately
the
intermediary market remains in pole position to help clients in achieving their short and long term financial goals and one of the best ways to do so is by reviewing any potential remortgaging options, especially for any lingering SVr fence sitters. it’s fair to say that looking
after our financial well- being isn’t always easy within the current climate. this is why we continue to advocate the benefits attached to offset mortgages and thankfully more and more intermediaries are also climbing on the offset bandwagon.
quotes for clients. two thirds of advisers said they intended to spend less than 10% of their annual turnover on technology and training. of these, one third intended to spend less than 5% on technology and another third intended to spend between 6%-10%. each individual or firm will decide how much they want to spend on technology. Firms have their own individual techniques, budgets and time-constraints but let’s just underline that whatever methodology is used, it should be as efficient and effective as possible. utilising technology and social media is certainly an area worth investigating and there are a wealth of resources out there to find the most effective solutions for large and small firms alike. (For more see pages 50-51)
SMES CAUTIOUS ABOUT 2012
October saw the launch of the annual Barclays Business Regional Impact Index which, unsurprisingly, revealed a complex picture. Nationally, small businesses were said to have battened down the hatches following a difficult year. Looking ahead to 2012, the index added that they remain cautious compared to last year – 49% have ambitions to grow compared to two thirds (66%) in 2010. Almost half (49%) expect an increase in profit during 2012, while a third (33%) expects profits to remain static.
Encouragingly, owners of small businesses still retained a good sense of optimism and are looking to innovation to help boost their business in 2012. Over a third (37%) of Britain’s small businesses looking to grow next year saw innovation as the key driver, while 25% of businesses are said to be doing more with less next year. Only 15% expect to take on new employees to help deliver growth.
Small businesses remain the backbone of the UK economy and whilst the current economic climate continues to have an impact on many small businesses it is encouraging to see there is still some optimism with businesses introducing new products and services to help stimulate their marketplaces.
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