Cover
the burning issue
The mortgage market is still firefighting after four and half years of credit crunch. LSL Property Services finds out how brokers around the UK are faring
by Jon Round,
financial services director, LSL Property Services
I think everyone will admit that it’s been a
challenging year this year, but the sentiment from advisers across LSL Financial Services has been overwhelmingly positive. Be they appointed representatives of Pink or First Complete or directly authorised advisers of TMA or the Pink Club, from across the country, the general opinion has been “it’s tough but we are making it work”. A common theme was that while many
intermediaries felt that they had to work harder to write the same amount of business, that they were also noticing the benefit of their being fewer advisers in the market so that they were very busy with enquiries even if they couldn’t help everyone at this time. There has been an ongoing shift
towards a greater and greater focus on protection and general insurance. Many former mortgage advisers have seen protection become their biggest source of income but even while doing this, many reported that the number of mortgages they had done in the three months up to the beginning of December had also
increased, mostly attributed to some of the excellent rates that lenders have introduced and the increase in high LTV mortgages. The outlook for most people was pretty
confident too with most advisers predicting that 2012 would be pretty similar to 2011 in terms of volumes. However the one thing that could throw this out for everybody is global crisis and the situation in Europe specifically. Most of us seem to be watching this situation unfolding with bated breath and the sincere hope that a resolution can be found that will lead to a steady economic climate both here and with our largest trading nations. Interestingly perceptions of what is
needed to run a successful business also seem to have changed; gone are the aspirations of 2006 and 2007 that mortgage volumes and house prices will continue to grow extensively year by year and you just have to be in the market to benefit from it. Now many advisers, rightfully, feel a real sense of achievement to still be here, and consider more of the same as a positive outlook for the year ahead. No longer do we expect people to walk
in our door and hand us our business, instead, it is now accepted that we need to work our client banks, be it by always asking for referrals, keeping in touch with clients regularly, or even holding events.
28 mortgage introducer JANUARY 2012
The methods that the advisers across the LSL Group used to maximise their client banks varied, but it seems usual that there was a combination of factors – all of which contributed to them being much busier than they expected this year. Altogether it is a cautiously optimistic
picture. It isn’t an easy environment to work in, but by being savvy, increasing the number of ways that we can help our clients and, most of all, providing the highest level of service to clients, many advisers find that their client banks are growing once again.
Brendan Farrell CeMap CeRer Director Farrell Independent Ltd Surrey Pink network
2011 has been a good year; we have
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