"The role of the adviser is more important than ever in ensuring borrowers are able to access and obtain the right product to match their circumstances."
Evidence of this emerged in the latest data from NAEA Propertymark which outlined that the average number of properties listed per member agent branch increased by 21% in February 2022 to 23 from a figure of 19 in January, the highest it’s been for five months.
Sales agreed per member branch was also suggested to be up from seven per branch in January to eight in February — the highest number of sales experienced since October 2021. Importantly, the proportion of monthly sales to first-time buyers reached their highest point since June 2000, accounting for 37% of overall sales in February. This is up on January’s figure of 29%.
As we enter Q2, we are likely to see a further uplift in the volume of residential transactions, although nothing like the levels experienced over much of 2020 and 2021. When analysing the current marketplace, there are more avenues than ever to funding a variety of purchases and homeownership aspirations remain strong. Although these avenues can sometimes be littered with obstacles and hurdles for certain borrower types.
As such, the role of the adviser is more important than ever in ensuring borrowers are able to access and obtain the right product to match their circumstances. Be this ‘specialist’, ‘mainstream’ or any other label you might like to put on them.
For lenders, it’s vital to have the appropriate channels in place to generate intermediary feedback. The next step is actually listening and being in a position to provide and deliver the type of options and solutions which meet ever-changing client demands – where possible and if implemented responsibly.
This is why we have recently introduced fee-assisted options across our residential and BTL product ranges. We appreciate the pressure being exerted on borrowers when it comes to a range of upfront costs, not to mention the raising of significant deposits as the average UK house price continues to rise. Which, according to recent ONS data, hit a figure of £273,762 in January 2022.
The lofty average sum really does highlight why first-time buyer demand is so high at the upper end of the LTV scale. This is hardly a secret but what is less well-known is just how competitive many specialist lending offerings are at these higher LTV bands. Not to mention how such lenders can cater for those borrowers who are self-employed, have just changed jobs and/or rely on multiple and unusual income sources.
Intermediaries are certainly becoming more attuned to what they want from lenders in meeting these types of demands. They want to know which lender will take a more holistic approach to the underwriting process and take time to really understand the client’s circumstances.
As a lender, we are all about how we can make the most of what borrowers earn in their totality, meaning we can focus maximising lending based upon earnings, in whatever form they come. This is not a unique approach but it is one which can often deliver a far better solution for advisers and their clients who may not have expected to qualify at all, never mind achieve such a competitive rate. And, for me, this is what sums up a specialist lending market which continues to challenge the mainstream and provide the types of results which matter for an ever-expanding borrowing base.
