Paradigm Mortgage Services has revealed that its members placed £3.45 billion of mortgage completions through it in 2015, a year-on-year increase of 29%.
Buy-to-let accounted for a third of all completions while new-build business accounted for 11%. Paradigm is targeting an increase in buy-to-let business from £1.15 billion last year to £1.6 billion in 2016.
The distributor believes a focus on high-quality firms generating ‘top quality’ business has contributed to both its membership growth and its improved performance. Paradigm’s average mortgage case size during 2015 was £191,500 and the average LTV was 62%.
The number of Paradigm member firms now stands at 915 with 179 new members joining through 2015. By the end of 2016 Paradigm aims to grow membership to over 1,000 DA firms.
Paradigm’s plans for 2016 include a continued focus on ensuring member firms are ready and prepared for the Mortgage Credit Directive (MCD). All Paradigm workshops, taking place around the country, include up to date information and ongoing support for member firms to ensure their ongoing compliance. There are also product and criteria-specific mortgage and protection workshops taking place during 2016.
Bob Hunt, chief executive of Paradigm Mortgage Services, said: “2015 was another strong year for Paradigm, particularly in the mortgage sector where we crossed the £3 billion mark by some margin. The ongoing improvement in our performance came off the back of £2.67 billion of mortgage completions in 2014, in itself an increase of 44% over 2013’s figures. The upward trajectory of our mortgage completion figures is therefore very pleasing and it means we are targeting £4billion-plus in 2016.
“Significantly, a third of our completions came in the buy-to-let sector, and while there may be a degree of uncertainty about how this market will play out in 2016, we are confident we will increase our numbers in this space. There are clearly a number of unknowns in terms of how landlords will react to the stamp duty changes and the cut to mortgage interest tax relief which kicks in from next year, however we are confident demand will remain strong and that the market will find its new ‘normal’ quite quickly. We are already seeing the sector adapt with greater use of limited company vehicles to house and purchase properties, and we fully anticipate more lenders becoming active in this area.
“Overall, the focus of Paradigm Mortgage Services since our launch in 2007 has been on the quality of our proposition, member firms and relationships, and this will remain the case. DA firms join us because we are the number one choice for those businesses that place the highest quality client relationships at the heart of what they do; our mortgage lender and other provider partners have come to expect high standards of business and we believe they engage with us because we offer a controlled channel of high-quality DA firms.
“Ultimately, our ongoing aims are to continue delivering this quality service and value to our members and lender/provider partners, and this will be the driving force in everything we do.”
