How do you see the mortgage market shaping up in 2025?
Most importantly, I see a growing market, with the latest forecasts suggesting it will increase in size by £30 billion, to circa £260 billion. This growth provides exciting opportunities for lenders and brokers to increase our activity and help more customers. And, as the economy continues to stabilise and the market outlook improves, we may see lenders reviewing their risk appetite, and looking for opportunities to innovate to support more borrowers.
What are the opportunities and threats for lenders and borrowers?
The narrative from the Treasury suggests it is considering unlocking the potential in the mortgage market by reviewing regulations that were brought in to manage risk following the credit crunch in 2008 – which is, after all, 17 years ago. If we see the relaxing of rules from the regulator around, for example, LTI limits for lenders or stress testing, we may see affordability pressures ease – particularly for first-time buyers (FTBs).
This of course, sounds like good news given the impact high house prices have had on how many times income people need to borrow, could mean that borrowers can take shorter term mortgages, and will make it easier for lenders to help brokers to find solutions for their clients.
However, we can’t ignore the fact that increasing affordability could potentially increase the demand for housing even further by making more borrowers eligible to buy, pushing up house prices, so there are also potentially unintended consequences to manage. It’s important that the Government’s housebuilding targets are met to mitigate this risk.
What about brokers – how can lenders support them in the current climate?
The growing market creates both challenges and opportunities for brokers. For example, house purchase business has increased year-on-year, with more remortgage opportunities too, in addition to a strong product transfer market.
However, as they get busier, they need to ensure they are prepared and have the systems, processes and resources to manage both new and existing customers and deliver the service and experience all their clients need and expect. This is where lenders like us can help. Our Growth Series library provides free advice and support for brokers on topics such as reviewing their CRM capabilities and building strong acquisition and retention strategies to ensure they are prepared for the growth opportunities ahead, as well as many other relevant subjects.
How do you see things shaping up for Accord in 2025 – what are your priorities as a business?
Firstly, we’ve made a strong start to 2025, with further innovation for our propositions to help more first-time buyers find a place to call home. We recently made our £5K Deposit Mortgage – launched last year to help combat the challenges they face when saving for a deposit - available for both houses and flats, which has received a positive reaction in both the market and in terms of applications, so the demand is certainly there. We’ve also expanded our innovative cascade score product to new build homes, and have just launched a range of high cashback products, where the cashback is paid on completion, to help first-time buyers who may need help with stamp duty costs, or have missed the recent completion deadline.
I expect our support for our broker partners to go from strength to strength, as we continue to build on our reputation for the excellent service we are so passionate about maintaining. We are an ambitious business, and we will continue to seek new opportunities to help even more borrowers in underserved markets, through our commitment to constant innovation. So, watch this space!
