Despite uncertainty about the future, many people still have to move house, writes Harpal Singh, managing director of Conveyancing Alliance Ltd
Now that we have got past a Royal Wedding and a plethora of Bank Holidays it finally seems as if we can all get back into the normality of working life. I like a good holiday as much as the next man, however given this is traditionally a period of heightened activity in the housing and mortgage markets, then it seems somehow appropriate and right to make sure we all get the most out of it.
Indeed, the ‘Spring bounce’ has effectively been put off for a few weeks due to the late timing of Easter, the added Bank Holiday for ‘Wills and Kate’ to do their thing, followed by May Day. So, while we may well have seen this impact on our business levels over the last few weeks, this does now mean that many people will be returning from their holidays with serious intentions.
The fact is that individuals use periods of time off work to research, evaluate and, often, finally make a decision on important areas like purchasing a property, moving, remortgage, buying a second home, etc. And there’s no real surprise to learn that the Spring months with the added benefit of better weather and lighter evenings provide people with much more incentives and opportunities to view houses, research areas to live in and everything else that comes with a house buying/selling decision.
We are now in the post-research period whereby decisions are being made and therefore the broker market needs to be prepared to meet and match their services to the life choices that have been undertaken. Of course, many may point to the austerity cuts, the uncertain nature of Base Rate at present and worryingly high inflation levels, as having a dampening effect on the housing market – and to a considerable extent they are right. However, there will be many who are either not concerned, not affected or simply have to move/remortgage regardless.
These individuals are not impacted by such measures – if you are not working in the public sector you may not be affected by job cuts there, you may be confident about your future employment and have everything in order to make a decision. As stated above, you may on the other hand have little choice but to act. For instance, if you have a child, live in a two-bedroom flat and need space to accommodate another member of the family, then you may feel you have to move for more space regardless of other issues.
Also, consider the school situation we now have in much of the country. Many families will be looking to move in order to secure their school of choice and to ensure they are in the right catchment area. Often this needs to have been sorted by September and therefore the Spring and Summer months present the final opportunity for families to make this happen.
The point is that the government measures we are seeing plus the wider macro-economic impact is sizeable however it is often ‘life changes and choices’ which really determine next steps. If you need to move, you need to move and as long as the financial circle can be squared then you will be in a position to do so, and undoubtedly in need of professional financial advice and support, not just for a mortgage but all manner of other wants and needs.
So, there are opportunities in May, June and beyond for advisers and it will be how you create and take advantage of those opportunities that could determine your business and income levels for the rest of the year. Certainly, advisers must be aware that many lenders will be targeting these customers direct, pitching for this business in an attempt to cut out the middle-man therefore advisers must make sure they are pushing their propositions in order to effectively compete with the bigger direct-based lender machines.
Many individuals still want quality independent advice – this does not change – and therefore advisory practices must use the full range of marketing available to them in order to get the advice message across and to ensure potential clients are not sidetracked or misled into thinking they are getting advice by simply popping into their local branch. Life choices often have to be made quickly and advisers should make sure they are at the front of the queue when that decision is finally made.
