Mortgages

This year’s Mortgage Industry Mental Health Charter (MIMHC) Walk and Talk brought together dozens of people from across the mortgage community. Between them they covered 144 miles in six days, raising awareness of mental health issues, while at the same time raising more than £15,000 for the Niall Stringer Foundation, a charity dedicated to preventing suicide among young people. Further donations are welcome until midnight on Friday 30 June. The Walk and Talk event, which took place during Mental Health Awareness Week, was spearheaded by Jason Berry, co-founder of MIMHC and group sales director at Crystal Specialist Finance and Dev Malle, chief business development officer at Simplify. Berry, who was awarded the title of Mortgage Strategy Personality of the Year a few days after the event, commented: “I’m incredibly proud of what we achieved through this year’s Walk and Talk. A huge thank you to my walking partner, Dev Malle, whose support, spirit and humour were constant throughout the 144 miles.” The post MIMHC walk raises £15k – but still time to donate appeared first on Mortgage Strategy.

The proportion of homeowners with over £300,000 left to pay on their mortgages has nearly doubled over the last seven years.   The figure rose to 9% from 5% between 2017 and 2024, according to consultancy Broadstone’s analysis of the Financial Conduct Authority’s latest Financial Lives Survey.  It adds that these levels of “significant” home loan debt are particularly marked in areas where house prices are higher, such as London, where the number jumped to 28% from 17% over the same period.  The survey also shows that one in seven borrowers, or 14%, had outstanding mortgage debt worth at least four times their annual income.  This figure lifted from 11% seven years ago, albeit seeing a slight decline from 16% in 2020 and 2022.  The consultancy points out that the report “uncovers some concerning statistics around homeowners’ financial capabilities”.   It reports that 22% of homeowners who could have changed their mortgage rate in the last three years — remortgaging, porting, or buying — said they did not compare mortgages from two or more lenders.  But despite this, 10% of UK borrowers with a residential mortgage or pay part rent/part mortgage, said that a rise of either £1-49 (3%), or £50-99 (7%), in their monthly repayments would mean they “would struggle to meet their payments”.  Broadstone senior director of risk Paul Matthews says the regulator’s report does not make for “particularly happy reading”.  Matthews points out: “It is clear that many more homeowners are taking on significant levels of mortgage debt, yet household incomes have not kept pace with the continued rises in house prices.   “Given lenders typically cap the maximum amount homeowners can borrow at 4.5 times annual household income it is interesting to see that one in seven said their outstanding mortgage debt was over 4x yearly earnings. He adds: “Moreover, the statistically significant increase in homeowners with over £300,000 in mortgage debt demonstrates the concern over the impact of rising rates in the past few years – especially for homeowners in London who typically hold bigger mortgages.  “This concern is emphasised by some of the behaviours that the Financial Conduct Authority’s data also uncovered with many failing to shop around for the best deal despite small adjustments in monthly repayments making a significant difference over a full mortgage term.”  The post Homeowners with over £300k of remaining debt almost doubles  appeared first on Mortgage Strategy.

MPowered Mortgages has cut its three-year fixed rates.  For new purchase customers, three-year fixed rates for customers paying a 35% deposit have been cut to 3.93% paying a £999 fee. Those with a 20% deposit benefit from a new fixed rate of 4.25% paying a £999 fee. Three-year fixed rates for remortgage customers have also been cut across most LTV bands. The new rates from MPowered will be effective from 2 June. Hinckley & Rugby for Intermediaries has also announced mortgage rate reductions of up to 35 basis points across its entire product range, alongside a series of criteria improvements aimed at helping brokers place more complex cases. Over 30 products have been reduced, this includes Core Residential, two- and five-year fixed rates reduced by up to 0.35%; rates starting from 5.55% up to 90% LTV;  Retention, two- and five-year fixed rates reduced by up to 0.16%; rates starting from 5.07% up to 90% LTV;  Credit Flex, two- and five-year fixed rates reduced by up to 0.35%; rates starting from 5.89% up to 80% LTV. Also, Income Flex, two- and five-year fixed rates reduced by up to 0.31%; rates starting from 5.85% up to 90% LTV; Buy to Let (BTL) Retention, five-year fixed rates reduced by up to 0.10%; rates starting from 5.39% up to 75% LTV ;Visa, two- and five-year fixed rates reduced by up to 0.16%; rates starting from 5.89% up to 90% LTV; and Limited Company, five-year fixed rates reduced by 0.06%; rates starting from 5.79% up to 70% LTV In addition, Hinckley & Rugby has removed the £199 application fee from its core residential products. And retained profit is now accepted on Income Flex, helping limited company directors access finance. The post MPowered and Hinckley & Rugby cut rates appeared first on Mortgage Strategy.

Principality Intermediaries has made changes to its business development team including the appointment of Carly Scholes. Scholes will take on the role of business development manager and cover the East England area. She joins with financial service experience after working at Suffolk Building Society for almost seven years. Scholes’ new role will focus on Cambridge, Chelmsford, Colchester, Hemel Hempstead, Ipswich, Luton, Milton Keynes, Norwich, St Albans, Stevenage, Slough and Southend-on-Sea. Principality has also expanded Jo Silcox’s territory, extending from Newport to Hereford, and Cara Thompson has adopted the South-West of England region following Alan Browning’s retirement.  Principality Intermediaries national intermediary manager Helen Lewis says: “We’re delighted to welcome Carly to our team; she brings a wealth of knowledge and experience. Her expertise will be vital as we look to make more possible for brokers across the East of England.” “With the changes for the East of England, South Wales and South-West England, we’re continuing to enhance brokers support across the country as we implement our growth plans for 2025 and beyond.” Earlier this week, Principality Intermediaries announced it had cut selected fixed home loans by 20 basis points. The post Principality Intermediaries adds Scholes to business development team appeared first on Mortgage Strategy.

OneDome has acquired the digital mortgage broker formerly known as Trussle, which now trades as Better.co.uk, for an undisclosed sum.   The homebuying business — which integrates mortgage, legal, and insurance services into a single online process — has agreed to buy the broker from US-listed Better Home & Finance Trading Company, according to Sky News. The broker business was founded in 2015 and raised close to £30m in a series of funding rounds, and was once backed by US investment bank Goldman Sachs.  Its 2021 sale to Better Home & Finance reportedly valued the business at a significant discount to that sum.  OneDome was established in 2017 by founder and chief executive Babek Ismayil (pictured) with an aim to build a “seamless, all-in-one homebuying platform”. Ismayil told Sky News: “Trussle has built an excellent team and a reputation for innovation and customer focus.  “Trussle’s Smartbuyer proposition closely mirrors our own award-winning HomeBuyer Service, and combining our strengths is a natural next step to transforming this historically outdated sector.”  In December, OneDome bought Coreco Group for a “seven-figure sum” amid a series of acquisitions in recent years.  These include Nethouseprices as well as mortgage and financial advisory businesses Contractor Wealth Management, CMME Mortgage and Protection and Albany Park.    The combined group says it will handle over £3.5bn in annual mortgage lending and process roughly 1,100 property transactions each month, with a workforce of around 230 people.  The post Former Trussle digital mortgage broker snapped up by OneDome: Report   appeared first on Mortgage Strategy.

When it comes to the overall cost of homebuying — moving or remortgaging — I suspect conveyancing will be quite far down your clients’ list of concerns. They probably think it won’t be that expensive (online searches will show an array of cheaper options) and the service is likely to be similar, whatever they pay. As advisers, you’ll know this is not the case. But the reality is that, if you let clients go on their conveyancing journey alone, you run the risk of having a disappointed client, who may end up blaming you for any inflated costs or delays. You also risk missing out yourself on a strong income stream. Rising costs Take the cost argument alone. Conveyancing costs have risen by almost a fifth, or as much as 18%, over the past year, according to a March survey by property portal Moverly. I suspect that conveyancing costs are going to continue to rise The survey found that homebuyers paid an average of £1,375 when buying a freehold property, and £1,746 when they purchased a leasehold. This is an annual increase of 13% for freehold costs and 13.3% for leasehold costs. However, on a regional basis, the biggest freehold conveyancing cost increase was posted in the Northeast, where an annual rise of 18% put the average cost at £1,311. These increases are understandable given that, traditionally, conveyancers have underpriced their services. When you add in rising demand and the extra workload that brings, there was always going to be a point at which prices had to rise. Now that stamp duty thresholds have fallen (in April), you may anticipate demand will slow, and conveyancers will have to cut their cloth accordingly. If you let clients go on their conveyancing journey alone, you run the risk of having a disappointed client, who may end up blaming you Some may do this, but I suspect that conveyancing costs are going to continue to rise, not least because conveyancers’ responsibilities are going in only one direction: upwards. However, advisers will be best placed to mitigate rising costs by taking control of their clients’ conveyancing needs. Of course, it is possible to secure remortgage conveyancing for only hundreds of pounds. And, as we know, there are also ‘free legal’ options, which sound too good to be true — because they are too good to be true. Game changer Being able to guide your clients towards good conveyancing advice and to secure the accompanying referral fees, for even half of your existing customers, could be a meaningful game changer. It can provide a healthy revenue stream for life. Advisers will be best placed to mitigate rising costs by taking control of their clients’ conveyancing needs By becoming actively involved in the conveyancing process, you are much more likely to have a happy client at the end, who is probably worth their weight in gold in recurring business and referrals. If you’re not already involved in conveyancing, there is really no time like the present. This article featured in the May 2025 edition of Mortgage Strategy. If you would like to subscribe to the monthly print or digital magazine, please click here. The post Mortgage Business Accelerator: Harpal Singh, chief executive at Conveybuddy  appeared first on Mortgage Strategy.

Gen H reopened its panel for new broker registrations as it looks to boost its intermediary partnerships.  The lender, aimed at first-time buyers, will accept applications from directly authorised and appointed representative firms. Two of its key products include an income booster loan, similar to a joint borrower sole proprietor mortgage.  And a new build boost loan, in partnership with Persimmon, for newly built homes. The business opened in 2020 and earlier this year became a broker-only lender committed to taking “a fresh approach to complex cases”. Its intermediary panel has grown to more than 22,000 broker partners, including networks and clubs such as the Legal & General Mortgage Club, MAB, Stonebridge, PMS, PRIMIS, Paradigm, TMA Club, and Simply Biz Mortgages.  This year the business has onboarded Mortgage Intelligence, HL Partnership and Quilter. Gen H head of growth Leanne Sarjant says: “A huge part of bringing genuinely innovative mortgage products to market is building a high-quality broker panel.  “After all, brokers are the experts who will be advising aspiring homeowners on the nuances of the myriad options that are available to them – we couldn’t do the work we’re doing without our panel.” The post Gen H reopens broker panel for new registrations   appeared first on Mortgage Strategy.

The government has given the green light to build the first major reservoirs in 30 years to supply the building of new homes. Environment Secretary Steve Reed has seized control of the planning process to build two major reservoirs for the first time since the 1990s. The new reservoirs, located in East Anglia and Lincolnshire, will supply three quarters of a million homes and unlock the building of tens of thousands more as part of the government’s Plan for Change. These plans are part of the government’s commitment to build nine new reservoirs, supporting its plans to deliver 1.5m new homes by the end of this parliament. Anglian Water is proposing to build the Lincolnshire Reservoir to the south of Sleaford, aiming to be operational by 2040. They have also partnered with Cambridge Water to propose the Fens Reservoir, located between the towns of Chatteris and March, set to be completed in 2036. The Lincolnshire Reservoir would provide up to 166m litres of water per day for up to 500,000 homes. The Fens would supply a much needed 87m litres to 250,000 homes in the driest region of the UK. Water minister Emma Hardy says: “Today we are backing the builders not the blockers, intervening in the national interest and slashing red tape to make the planning process faster to unblock nine new reservoirs.” “This Government will secure our water supply for future generations and unlock the building of thousands of homes as part of the Plan for Change.” Last week, Crown Estate and Lendlease announced they had formed a partnership, which is set to unlock 26,000 new homes. The deal will see one-third of the 26,000 homes allocated to affordable housing and support the government’s aim to build 1.5 million new homes by 2029. The post Govt green lights first reservoirs in 30 years to supply new homes appeared first on Mortgage Strategy.

The former chief operating officer at Equity Release Council, Donna Francis, has joined the Equity Release Group as a non-executive director.   The later life broker says Francis (pictured) will focus on “broadening the scope of accessibility in using property wealth as a catalyst for financial planning requirements, while helping to lift standards across the industry”. Francis spent a decade as chief operating officer at Equity Release Council, responsible for the development of operations, regulatory policy, industry standards setting, membership propositions, corporate governance, and financial controls. She left her post last May. Before that she spearheaded industry-wide high-profile projects, including the merger of the Life Insurance Association and Society of Financial Advisers to create the Personal Finance Society, followed by the launch of the Society of Mortgage Professionals, in a 30-year career.  Equity Release Group founder and chief executive Mark Gregory says: “She [Francis] brings with her a wealth of invaluable experience in our sector. She is driven by integrity, and dedicated to nurturing a positive culture that empowers teams to thrive.   “I am confident that together we can drive scalability and security across the market, to deliver an enhanced customer experience, alongside exceptional quality advice.”    Francis adds: “Equity Release Group is entering an exciting stage of their journey, and I am delighted that I can be a part of helping to shape their future, as well as the future success of the industry.” The post Former Equity Release Council COO joins Equity Release Group appeared first on Mortgage Strategy.

MPowered Mortgages has launched a new case tracking timeline to give broker-partners visibility over every stage of a client’s applications. The new timeline, which is inspired by step-by-step progress tracking, presents each milestone in a clear, visual format. It allows brokers to see when key actions take place, such as when a valuation is booked or completed, or when an affordability decision is made. The layout is set out to access key information with ease including underwrite questions, case documents and solicitor details. MPowered Mortgages head of broker operations Rhonda Bryant says: “MPowered’s new case timeline is a game-changer for us brokers. Being able to see every stage of a client’s case including valuation updates via my mobile without having to call the helpdesk will make life so much easier for me.” “Calling up lenders to get updates on client cases can be so unnecessarily time consuming and unhelpful for my day-to-day. It’s exactly the kind of innovation our industry needs and other lenders should follow by example.” Yesterday, MPowered Mortgage announced the promotion of Peter Stimson to managing director of mortgages. The post MPowered launches case tracking timeline for brokers appeared first on Mortgage Strategy.