the element of brokers that were trying to avoid regulation, trying to stay in the dark corners, who were trying to bring the industry in disrepute. It wasn’t the people that you alluded to that were queuing up for membership because they’ve got morals and they’ve got ethics. It’s the people that don’t want regulation that do so much damage. AT: What we’re tasked with by the FSA and FOS is to squeeze those people out of the market altogether and work with the lenders to stop them dealing with them so they can’t place business with them. That would mean they can’t exist because lenders will only deal with brokers who abide by the code of practice. That’s the way to come down onto the market.
Why are members leaving the ASTL?
AB: We had 16 members and before we bloomed we were down to 12 because they stopped trading. The others that have left have changed their perception of the value of the proposition. It’s expensive to be a member of the ASTL and it takes time and it takes activity and involvement. People have free choice and there’s almost 30 people who think it’s a worthy investment to be in the trade body. There are others who don’t think that and Lowry Capital was one and there will no doubt be others as people come and go as they choose. The ASTL’s job is to do everything it possibly can to promote and protect the interests of its members and make the value of its proposition over the market. What we’ve achieved over the past few years is sensationally fantastic
and I think that we will improve as a trade body.
Do members around the table in the room feel they’re representative and effective?
LG: When the ASTL was first setup, it was a bit clubby and a bit matey and it’s probably a bit fair to say that some lenders didn’t join because they had issues with some of those very strong personalities. I think over the last four years that schoolboy attitude has materially eroded and I like to think it doesn’t exist at all now. But there are maybe three or four lenders who need to get off their backsides now and realise that being in is better than being out. AC: As I said earlier, there are too many trade bodies that aren’t necessarily at odds with each other but clearly I don’t think it’s working effectively. LG: There’s only one trade body for lenders.
AC: Sure but there are three people talking about trade bodies. LG: But they’re a completely different group. AC: But they’re all in the bridging space. LG: There’s a material difference between lenders and brokers. AC: Yeah of course there is but let me finish my point. There are clearly people speaking from different perspectives which I think is not doing what we want in this industry. What I want in this industry is that we can all have our opinions and I don’t expect everyone to agree with them, but there needs to be standards set. One of the big things which a trade body should do is to create consumer confidence because you’ve got a stamp of approval which is credible and you need a trade body with political clout which can benefit the members and lobby the regulator and government if ever it was appropriate. But coming in pretty new to the space in the past six months and doing
The most extensive range of bridging fi nance products... ...with the greatest degree of fl exibility.
FREEPHONE 0808 222 2211 DEPENDABLE, EFFECTIVE OPEN BRIDGING FINANCE.
www.bridgebankcapital.co.uk
Dependable, effective open bridging finance
Bridgebank Capital, Egerton House, Towers Business Park, Wilmslow Road, Didsbury, Manchester, M20 2DX
www.mortgageintroducer.com
speedy purchase
Dependable, effective open bridging finance
business purchase
growth portfolio
auction purchase
property modernisation
BRIDGING INTRODUCER MARCH 2012 25
mixed-use property
development
buy-to-let
investment purchase
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40