A new white paper from United Trust Bank (UTB) has revealed new opportunities for brokers, with one in six expecting a growth of more than 20%.
Entitled – ‘Growing opportunities for brokers in the specialist mortgage market’, the white paper reports on findings from an independent survey of over 100 mortgage brokers.
Amid the uncertain economic climate and cost of living crisis, the findings revealed that over 94% of mortgage intermediaries expect the specialist mortgage market to grow within the next two years.
More than half these (over 57%) predict a growth of up to 20%, whilst a further 17% expect the market to expand even further.
Using data, interviews and commentary from a wide range of brokers, clubs and distributors, the report examines the market as it stands currently, how it has evolved over the last 10 years and the opportunities it presents to brokers both now and in the future.
Some of these include Brightstar’s Rob Jupp, Connect for Intermediaries’ Jane Benjamin, Dale Jannels from Impact, Matthew Arena from Brilliant Solutions and Danny Belton of L&G Mortgage Club.
The report also reveals the specialist niches that brokers believe offer the most growth potential.
The top five include, borrowing into retirement (61%), self-employed applicants (52%), multiple income applicants (49%), second charges (43%) and adverse credit applicants (38%).
Findings also stated that ‘specialist’ cases were an excellent source of new business, with brokers indicating that over 73% of the specialist mortgage applications they deal with come from new clients.
Additionally, it posited that successfully helping a customer with more challenging requirements can lead to greater loyalty, as 92% of brokers said that specialist mortgage customers are more likely to approach them again, having demonstrated the value they added to the process and the outcome.
Buster Tolfree, director of mortgages at United Trust Bank, said: “I’m not surprised that more than three quarters of brokers who took part in the research for this paper believe it offers a greater opportunity now than ever before.
“The specialist mortgage market exists to serve borrowers who find themselves on the wrong side of mainstream lenders’ criteria; a group of people that is only going to grow given the current economic conditions.
“Cost of living challenges, and a rising base rate, will push more customers towards solutions from specialist lenders.
“It presents a huge opportunity for brokers and if we continue to strive to give customers what they need, and we as lenders continue to give brokers quicker, easier and more efficient ways of dealing with us, we can all take a decent slice of a cake which is only going to get bigger.”
UTB’s white paper can be downloaded for free at: https://www.utbank.co.uk/specialist-mortgage-market-2022/
