Mixed Messages from Mortgage Lenders

With the amount of Mortgage products available to borrowers almost doubling since the start of the year to over 4400 today, signs of a recovery are good. We have also seen the appearance of new lenders like Aldermore bank who have made quite an impression already specialising in BTL and almost prime lending and today a new lender appears called Precise Mortgage looking to offer an alternative to the high street with a capped rate range of Products.

Unfortunately amongst the good news many of the high-street lenders are also doing their best to put off new borrowers, at Rest Assured Mortgages our Estate Agents are still calling us to help out when their clients have been declined by lenders who had previously agreed to lend for “no apparent reason”. Although this is good for Rest Assured Mortgages it is bad for the market as yes we can save these deals by placing the business elsewhere but the time delays puts a strain on the property chain and in some cases the chain will break.

We have recently read that the Financial Services Authority will soon be insisting that banks advise their clients that they should seek independent Mortgage advice from Whole of Market Advisers before agreeing to take out a Direct Bank Mortgage. This comes as welcome news to the Adviser market and possibly is a sign that even the FSA has recognised the rapid rise in complaints against the banks and the value of whole of market advisers to the mortgage industry. Clive Wilkin’s of Rest Assured Mortgages commented that he has advised clients to go direct to a bank for a mortgage as on occasion they have some great products particularly in the 90% Mortgage bracket but at the same time he has warned of lenders that have a reputation for messing clients about and therefore has offered an alternate product better suited to them.

We feel it’s going to be well into 2011 before the market really starts to get going again and lenders start to feel happy to lend freely. In the mean time it’s important to speak to a Mortgage Adviser who can give you a full free market appraisal made make sure you are making the correct decisions.

Many thanks

Rob Ashley-Roche