The COVID-19 pandemic and its after-effects, including rocketing inflation and living costs, have led to big changes within the residential segment of the market. There are now many more potential borrowers with complex financial situations, but the major lenders are proving slow to adapt.
That presents issues for mortgage advisors as it makes finding loans for clients with those sorts of complex circumstances more difficult. The big lenders continue to apply quite rigid sets of criteria and more people than ever are struggling to meet these. That does not mean advisors have to give up on them though.
Those who have done the CeMAP mortgage advisor course will know that adaptability is the key to success and, in 2023, that means the specialist lending sector. Lenders within it provide criteria designed to support customers who are self-employed, have some credit history issues or any of the other factors that rule them out of a loan in the eyes of the bigger providers.
This section of the mortgage market is expected to grow to £16 billion from its current value of £5 billion over the next few years. Some advisors are already researching it on behalf of their clients, but those who have not yet started to do so are missing out on business and a way to help many of their customers.
In some cases, this will require a change in perceptions of specialist lending as it should no longer have any negative connotations in the present economic climate.
