Mandatory product withdrawal notice period not coming

June 16, 2023 by Mark

Lenders

The mandatory notice period for lenders withdrawing products favoured by many mortgage advisors will not be introduced. This is according to two of the biggest mortgage industry trade bodies.

A number of advisors have stated that they believe such a minimum period of notice should be introduced across the industry. This comes in the wake of a period in which mortgage lenders have been withdrawing products from their slates with very little advance notice because of issues such as swap rate rises. In the process, they are often leaving both advisors and their clients high and dry.

However, the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) and the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) have now spoken out, indicating that they do not see this as the correct solution.

They have stated that a ‘one size fits all’ notice period would be hard for lenders to keep to. Kate Davies from IMLA told Financial Reporter that they are aware of the short notice that many advisors get of product changes, adding:

“This is frustrating for brokers, customers and lenders, but decisions to withdraw products and re-price are taken only when absolutely necessary.”

However both the AMI and IMLA also urged lenders to provide advisors with hours rather than minutes of notice and to avoid making changes to their slates at the end of a working day or during the weekend.

It is in navigating last minute hitches like these that the CeMAP mortgage advisor qualification is often so invaluable to professional advisors, alongside extensive knowledge of the market.