We must fight to get brokers back on top
Posted on October 31st 2011
Last week I was looking at the Financial Services Authority’s statistics on the market share of mortgages done by intermediaries versus those done by direct lenders.
We are all aware that things have been tough for the past few years but there has been a quantum shift that doesn’t make good reading. In 2007 intermediaries accounted for 62% of all mortgages written but this fell to 47% in 2011.
Banks’ multimillion pound marketing campaigns to persuade consumers to come into their branches alongside cheap direct-only mortgage deals has had a drastic effect on the buying patterns of mortgage customers.
What saddens me is that the banks are pushing their own products, cloaked by the nonsense that is called a non-advised sale. More damage is done by banks pushing their own insurance products, which often are not good value for money.
Customer choice has been dealt a severe blow by this shift but it is not clear who is willing to fight the cause of the intermediary sector to try to arrest this decline.
We will attempt to help brokers redress the balance in our upcoming roadshows which will be held on a red London bus that is touring Scotland, England and Wales in November.
Please book a space so we can start the fight against this worrying trend.
