UK Intermediaries are confident they can weather the storm of Brexit and a general election, according to the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association’s (IMLA) latest Mortgage Market Tracker.
The research revealed that 91% of mortgage intermediaries said they were either ‘very confident’ or ‘fairly confident’ about the outlook for the mortgage industry.
The research also found that most brokers (95%) were positive about the outlook for the intermediary-led mortgage market specifically, while 96% were also very or fairly confident about future prospects for their own business.
Kate Davies, executive director of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association, said: “Continuing political uncertainty has failed to dent the confidence of mortgage brokers. Intermediaries remain confident that they are well-placed to weather the storm of political uncertainty. Brokers are upbeat about the prospects for Britain’s mortgage market.”
Additionally, gross lending on all mortgages has increased each quarter since Q1 2019, reaching £70.4bn in Q3 2019, according to the Bank of England.
Despite the expected summer lull dampening activity in the third quarter of the year, the average number of cases intermediaries handle annually remains in the mid-80s. On average, 66% of this activity was made of up of residential cases, including remortgaging, movers and first-time buyers, while buy-to-let covered 25% of all activity. Specialist cases, such as adverse credit, made up the remaining 9%.
Davies added: “Even with the typically quieter summer months, there is still sustained demand from people wanting to see a mortgage broker. Whether they are a straightforward first-time buyer, have complex circumstances or are looking to remortgage, consumers are relying on the expertise of intermediaries to find the right mortgage product.”