38% of brokers surveyed by Shawbrook Bank feel fairly confident about their business growth for the latter part of 2016, despite the post-Brexit vote uncertainty.
Shawbrook Bank’s Broker Barometer found the confidence in this growth is due to a strong start to the year, with 64% of brokers seeing an increase in business volumes and 43% dealing with growing client demand, compared with the second half of 2015.
In addition, 34% of brokers are fairly confident in the UK economy post-Referendum, despite fears regarding uncertainty in the markets. Although the number of brokers feeling confident is nearly identical to those who are concerned, the trend has shifted post-Brexit with a larger proportion of brokers now more cautious than they were previously.
According to brokers, the economic climate post-Brexit is seen to be the biggest challenge in the latter half of 2016, with 51% of brokers citing the current economic environment as challenging. 30% believe the biggest consequence following the Referendum result would be a fall in property prices and 23% expressed fears over a fall in investor demand.
However, despite some fears around the potential impact on borrowers from Brexit, broker sentiment remains bullish. 53% of brokers are fairly confident with regard to the post-Referendum lending environment during the latter half of 2016, compared to just 25% who are fairly concerned and 0% opting for very concerned. Shawbrook said this is suggestive of a strong level of confidence in the UK mortgage market and its ability to “weather any Brexit speedbumps”.
Karen Bennett (pictured), managing director for commercial mortgages, said: “With the implications of Brexit still unclear, it is understandable that brokers may feel a little nervous about the market. However it is encouraging to see a positive outlook in the main – particularly where client demand is concerned – and in spite of the challenges faced there is still much in the way of opportunity.
“From a Shawbrook perspective, we are confident that those brokers and investors with a long term balanced strategy will continue to prosper as we move into a more settled environment, and we look forward to supporting them throughout the remainder of 2016.”