More and more borrowers in the UK
are using the services of specialist mortgage advisers to help them secure the
best home loan deal. The Council of Mortgage Lenders revealed that brokers
increased their market share across all business types in the first quarter of
2013; a clear indication that customers want to draw on the financial and
mortgage experience of these advisers.
As interest rates continue to be
driven down due to various government schemes to boost the property market, the
range of mortgage deals available has also reached its highest level for more
than 5 years.
Data from the Council of Mortgage
Lenders shows that more than half of first-time buyers and those people
securing a remortgage deal arranged the loan through a mortgage broker while 48
per cent of other home movers also used an intermediary to assist with the
funding for their purchase.
These data reveal that more and more
people are appreciating that selecting the right mortgage for their specific
set of circumstances is not always a straightforward process and that
consulting a professional adviser can not only streamline the process and make
it less stressful but also ensure the right choice is made.
Affordability criteria by which
mainstream lenders assess potential borrowers remain tight, and high value
mortgage clients are often much more likely to find the right deal by using the
services of an intermediary. Brokers take the time to understand the needs of a
client and assess their financial circumstances in detail, unlike mainstream
banks, which still tend to use a tick box list to determine affordability.
The Association of Mortgage
Intermediaries (AMI) have been predicting for some months that recent
initiatives would encourage consumers back into the market and intermediaries
continue to be able to help those consumers.AMI anticipate that this tendency
will continue during 2014.
So the number of borrowers asking a
broker for guidance and help has been continuing to increase but so too has the
number of home loan products available to those potential borrowers so much so
that the choice of mortgage deals in the UK is now higher than at any time in
the past 5 years.
A report from the analysts
Moneyfacts indicated that there are approaching two thousand home loan products
available from UK lending institutions. This is the greatest range of options
since early 2008 and more than double the number of deals available in March
2009.
Large mortgage specialists are
suggesting that as the choice of mortgage products increases, so does the
complexity of the mortgage market. This makes it increasingly hard for a
typical home owner to find the best mortgage from the options available to
them. This is one of the reasons that brokers have seen a rise in interest from
clients in recent months. Mortgage advisers have access to a variety of
products not available from mainstream lenders and can establish exactly what a
borrower is looking for and match the client with the right deal from the right
lender.
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