July 2021 Issue

Gearing is your friend

20 Jul 2021

Roxana Mohammadian-Molina is chief strategy officer of Blend Network Over the past decade, a new generation of specialist development finance... Read more

High Net Worth 20 Jul 2021

Why HNW mortgage cases are unique

Peter Izard is business development manager of Investec Private Bank When working on a mortgage case for a high net worth...

General Insurance 20 Jul 2021

Echoes of football and fax machines

James O’Hara is commercial director of Ceta Insurance Football fever has taken over the last few weeks thanks to the European...

Cheaper to rent than buy?

20 Jul 2021

Jane Simpson is managing director of TBMC It was interesting to read about the recent report by the estate agents Hamptons,...

The evolving nature of efficiency

20 Jul 2021

Steve Carruthers is principal mortgage consultant of Iress We passed the end of Q1 and, astonishing as it may seem, are...

The future of working practices

20 Jul 2021

Pete Gwilliam is director of Virtus Search There was a time when the boundaries between work and home were fairly clear;...

This run will continue

20 Jul 2021

Robin Johnson is managing director of Kinleigh, Folkard and Hayward Professional Services People are moving, and that’s not about to change...

First-time Buyers 23 Jun 2021

Help to Buy still vital for first-time buyers

Adrian Moloney is group sales director of Precise Mortgages 313,043 households. That’s roughly as many as there are in a city the size of Leeds. It’s a lot of people, a...

Conveyancing 22 Jun 2021

Experience and quality at every stage

Mark Snape is chief executive officer of Broker Conveyancing Here’s a quick ‘starter for 10’ for those reading who are already homeowners: how many of you bought the first home you...

Surveying 15 Jun 2021

Solutions from surveyors and lenders

Steve Goodall is managing director of e.surv When tragedy occurs, it is not always clear how best to proceed, but a thorough understanding of the scale and scope of the problem...

Buy-to-Let 15 Jun 2021

Buy-to-let buoyancy

Jane Simpson is managing director of TBMC There has been plenty of positive movement in the buy-to-let (BTL) sector in recent months, which has been supported by numerous reports and surveys...

Buy-to-Let 15 Jun 2021

The future of specialist BTL lending

Ross Turrell is commercial director of CHL Mortgages If I had £1 for every time I heard or read something which hinted at the demise of the buy-to-let (BTL) market over the years then I’d be...

Top Stories

High Net Worth 15 Jun 2021

When is self-build not self-build?

Peter Izard is intermediary business development of Investec Private Bank Lockdown has led to many people re-evaluating what they look for from their home. A growing number are considering refurbishment and...

Recruitment 15 Jun 2021

Diversity values in work culture

Pete Gwilliam is director of Virtus Search There is an inherent challenge for the sector when it comes to increasing the representation of people of colour. Why Because whilst data is...

London 15 Jun 2021

Don’t panic, Captain Mainwaring

Robin Johnson is managing director of Kinleigh, Folkard and Hayward Professional Services I never fail to be gently amused by the wild ups and downs in house price predictions that are...

Market 15 Jun 2021

Building back differently

Tim Hague is director of Sagis The rather wet month of May may well have been notable for the record breaking amounts of water that descended from the heavens, but even...

18 May 2021

Specialist lending and the staycation boom

Adrian Moloney is group sales director of InterBay Commercial What do Torquay, Windermere, York, Newquay and Bath all have in common Sure, they’re all very nice places – some have beaches, others...

Conveyancing 17 May 2021

Supporting brokers that go the extra mile

Karen Rodrigues is sales director of eConveyancer First-time buyers are the lifeblood of the property market. Without them, we simply don’t have a market that works properly – we need these...

Conveyancing 17 May 2021

The time to deliver

Mark Snape is chief executive officer of Broker Conveyancing The old adage about ‘lies, damn lies and statistics’ was brought home to me recently when reviewing some data around the number...

Protection 17 May 2021

Protecting the sandwich generation

Ross Liston is managing director, distribution of Sesame Bankhall Group Estimates suggest there are at least one million Britons who are financially responsible for both their younger and older family members....

Buy-to-Let 17 May 2021

Going green in buy-to-let

Jane Simpson is managing director of TBMC In recent years, the environmental issues affecting our planet have taken central stage in the media, and many people have become increasingly concerned with...

Lending 17 May 2021

The lenders’ dilemma

Tony Marshall is managing director of Equifinance Underwriting has always been a balancing act between the application of lending criteria and the importance attached to customers’ circumstances, their history, and how...

Technology 17 May 2021

The technological balancing act

David Lownds is head of marketing and business development of Hanley Economic Building Society In the midst of massive internal and external tech overhaul, it’s fair to say that our eyes...

Buy-to-Let 17 May 2021

Lenders a force for raising PRS standards

Richard Rowntree is managing director of mortgages at Paragon Over the past two decades, significant progress has been made in improving the standard of the UK’s housing stock. Of course, efforts...

High Net Worth 17 May 2021

The need for speed in 2021

Peter Izard is business development manager at Investec Private Bank Buying a new home can be an exciting journey, but we all know the process doesn’t come without its challenges. As...

London 17 May 2021

Things change and things stay the same

Robin Johnson is managing director, Kinleigh, Folkard and Hayward Professional Services Until recently, I rather felt as though I’d been living the same day over and over again for the past...

Market 17 May 2021

A new type of mortgage prisoner

Tim Hague is managing partner at Sagis You might think that IR35 sounds like a dull detail that affects only a small number of self-employed contractors, but it’s actually a really...

Market 17 May 2021

How was it for you?

Martin Reynolds is CEO of SimplyBiz Mortgages How were the first four months of the year for you I am never surprised by the resilience of our market, and how advisers...

Surveying 16 Apr 2021

New survey standards offer opportunity

Karen Rodrigues is sales director of eConveyancer Buyers have a host of additional costs to consider, besides the money they are paying for the property itself. But there are few outlays...

Protection 16 Apr 2021

Research to support recommendations

Neil McCarthy is chief commercial officer of LifeQuote You could argue that critical illness (CI) and income protection (IP) products have become more complex over the years, as insurers have developed...

Buy-to-Let 16 Apr 2021

Adaptability is key to fulfilling demand

George Gee is commercial director of Foundation Home Loans As I write this, we are approaching the end of a quarter which was largely expected to be the busiest on record...

Buy-to-Let 16 Apr 2021

A new chapter for buy-to-let

Bob Young is chief executive officer of Fleet Mortgages Spend any time within the buy-to-let (BTL) market or private rental sector (PRS) and you’ll soon learn there is always an underlying...

16 Apr 2021

No ‘no platforming’ for second charge

Tony Marshall is managing director of Equifinance The remortgage versus second charge debate continues to divide opinion. Fortunately, it is still relatively civilised. Cancel culture and Twitter extremists have not yet...

Recruitment 16 Apr 2021

Awake (woke) or asleep

Pete Gwilliam is director of Virtus Search The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has pledged to get tough on firms that fail to have diverse management teams, but admits that it has...

Market 16 Apr 2021

#FSCSFairForAll

Martin Reynolds is CEO of SimplyBiz Mortgages This month I want to pick up on a debate that has been discussed many times over the years. Whilst the issue was improved...

Fund Finance 22 Mar 2021

Ben Barbanel is head of debt finance at OakNorth Bank Fund finance is set to play a crucial role in mitigating the effects of COVID-19, enabling property investors to weather these...

Equity Release 22 Mar 2021

Lifetime mortgages here for the long haul

Andrea Rozario is chief corporate officer at Bower Hardly any industry has ridden out coronavirus unscathed. The upheaval in our society has been the most severe and far-reaching in over...

Buy-to-Let 22 Mar 2021

Start the protection conversation

Alisa Wallington is senior product manager at iPipeline Internet shopping – if you had not fully embraced it before the pandemic, you and millions of others almost certainly will have done...

Buy-to-Let 22 Mar 2021

The rise of limited company landlords

Adrian Moloney is group sales director at Precise Mortgages Many of us have had more time on our hands due to the lockdown measures, and it seems that we’ve been taking...

Buy-to-Let 22 Mar 2021

The PRS sustainability puzzle

Richard Rowntree is managing director of mortgages at Paragon Passed in 2008 by an overwhelming majority across all political parties, The Climate Change Act sets out the UK’s commitment to reducing...

Lending 22 Mar 2021

Understanding your digital eco-system

Tim Hague is director at Sagis T he word ‘ecosystem’ has been appropriated into our digital lexicon to encompass not only the solutions we build and employ for our own organisations, but...

Recruitment 22 Mar 2021

Inclusivity and cultural fit

Pete Gwilliam is director at Virtus Search The culture of a business is made up of the shared values, attitudes, behaviors and life experiences of its employees. Culture is especially influenced...

London 22 Mar 2021

A good time for capital investment

Robin Johnson is managing director at Kinleigh, Folkard and Hayward Professional Services While I am writing this before the Chancellor Rishi Sunak delivers his 2021 Budget on 3 March, you will...

High Net Worth 18 Feb 2021

Impacts on the 2021 property market

Peter Izard is business development manager of Investec Private Bank With so many of us running our businesses or advising clients from home at the moment, I wanted to highlight the...

Products 18 Feb 2021

Products and processes post-COVID

Tim Hague is managing partner of Sagis For most of the past year, 2021 was the great white hope on the horizon. A vaccine was forthcoming, lockdowns would be over and...

Buy-to-Let 18 Feb 2021

HMO customers and Article 4

Adrian Moloney is sales director of OneSavings Bank Group You’d have to have been living under a rock for the past few years not to be aware of the huge...

Buy-to-Let 18 Feb 2021

The impact of Brexit on the PRS

Richard Rowntree is managing director of mortgages, Paragon Before Brexit was ousted by COVID-19 as the main news item, it dominated our headlines for a number of years. Finally, we now...

General Insurance 18 Feb 2021

Footballers, students and dancers

Kevin Paterson, director of sales and marketing, Ceta Insurance When it comes to insuring our homes, most of us know that certain situations can make the process a little more complex. Thatched...

Protection 18 Feb 2021

Make protection a part of refinancing

Jeff Woods is campaigns and propositions director of Sesame Bankhall Group Refinancing, whether through a remortgage or product transfer, is likely to make up a significant proportion of business for mortgage...

General Insurance 18 Feb 2021

The antidote to instability

Rob Evans is CEO of Paymentshield To say that 2020 had its ups and downs is more than putting it mildly. It’s no secret that last year bred major instability in...

Technology 17 Feb 2021

New lockdown, same threats

John Dobson is chief executive of SmartSearch It all feels tediously familiar: hours of working from home, while homeschooling for many, and every day a round of video calls and remote...

Technology 17 Feb 2021

Appropriate intelligence in 2021

Steve Carruthers is principal mortgage consultant of Iress Artificial intelligence (AI) has been a buzz-phrase for years; a holy grail where machines alleviate us of the mundane tasks and begin to...

Equity Release 16 Feb 2021

The right people for the right job

Stuart Wilson is CEO of Air Group We are now just a month and a half away from the end of the stamp duty holiday period, and it’s fair to...

Conveyancing 16 Feb 2021

Addressing remortgage fears

Karen Rodrigues is sales director at eConveyancer We are just a few weeks into the new year, and many people will start to feel their motivation to keep up with resolutions...

Equity Release 20 Jan 2021

Ready to roar back

Andrea Rozario, chief corporate officer of Bower Shall we call 2020 a write-off I had high hopes for the ‘Roaring Twenties’ part two, but I think by March everyone knew...

Buy-to-Let 20 Jan 2021

The value of buy-to-let

Richard Rowntree is managing director mortgages of Paragon Bank Despite the pandemic’s emergence in 2019, it is 2020 that will go down in history as the year changed by coronavirus. I’m...

Buy-to-Let 20 Jan 2021

What an opportunity for positive change

Jane Simpson is managing director of TBMC What a year, and what a challenge, in 2020; it’s hard to put into words exactly what the impact of the coronavirus pandemic has...

20 Jan 2021

2021 and the challenges ahead

Stuart Miller is customer director of Newcastle Building Society The world has been through one of the worst crises of this century, and is now beginning to pick up the pieces...

20 Jan 2021

An introduction to introductions

Pete Gwilliam is director of Virtus Search Whether you are applying for jobs or speculatively introducing yourself to an employer that interests you, a cover letter can be the determining factor...

14 Dec 2020

Money laundering and property

John Dobson is CEO at SmartSearch For most people, the phrase ‘money laundering’ probably brings to mind Hollywood gangster films. But the truth is it is a widespread problem that is...

Protection 14 Dec 2020

Are you OK?

Jeff Woods is campaigns and propositions director at Sesame Bankhall Group Mental health is an important topic of conversation, and rightly so. It has been growing in prominence for some time,...

Service 14 Dec 2020

A clear purpose will guide us through

Stuart Miller is customer director at Newcastle Building Society While there has been much tragedy and hardship in the wake of an ongoing health crisis, such disasters do often have the...

Buy-to-Let 14 Dec 2020

Stamp duty cliff edge

Jane Simpson is managing director of TBMC The stamp duty holiday announced in July for properties up to £500,000 in England provided a welcome boost to the housing market, allowing it...

19 Nov 2020

Shaun Almond: The wrong question?

Shaun Almond is managing director of HL Partnership At what point do you tell customers that they have little or no chance of getting their purchase completed before the end of...

Equity Release 18 Nov 2020

Andrea Rozario: Don’t believe everything you read

Andrea Rozario is chief corporate officer of Bower Retirement Services “Scammers and con artists.” “Barely qualified to O Level standard.” “Mugging old ladies and old men.” These are just some of...

General Insurance 18 Nov 2020

James Watson: ‘Tis the season to talk about GI

James Watson is sales director of Paymentshield Halloween has been and gone and the clocks have turned back, bringing in the shorter days and with it, the colder weather. Given everything...

First-time Buyers 18 Nov 2020

Adrian Moloney: Getting the help they need

Adrian Moloney is group sales director of OneSavings Bank Getting a foot on the property ladder has never been easy. I don’t know about you, but I still remember those years...

Buy-to-Let 18 Nov 2020

Jane Simpson: Technology trumps

Jane Simpson is managing director at TBMC A month is a long time in the buy-to-let mortgage market, although COVID-19 has added a certain feeling of Groundhog Day to our lives,...

Buy-to-Let 18 Nov 2020

Bob Young: The clock is ticking for stamp duty break

Bob Young is chief executive officer of Fleet Mortgages There are many who might wish to deny it, but the housing market remains one of the key drivers of the UK...

18 Nov 2020

Tony Marshall: The second charge revival

Tony Marshall is managing director of Equifinance To say that this has been a testing period for the second charge sector, as well as the whole lending market, would be an...

19 Oct 2020

Pete Gwilliam: The growing need for support

Pete Gwilliam is director of Virtus Search It has been pleasing to see that in a number of instances within the mortgage sector, individuals have returned to full-time roles following periods...

AMI 15 Oct 2020

Robert Sinclair: Fighting for justice

Robert Sinclair is chief executive officer of AMI In October I spent an hour creating a podcast with the UK Mortgage Prisoners Action Group. What this brought home to me was...

General Insurance 15 Oct 2020

Jeff Woods: Understand fair value obligations

Jeff Woods is campaigns and propositions director of Sesame Bankhall Group The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently published its final report following its study into the pricing of general insurance (GI),...

Protection 15 Oct 2020

Ben Burgess: Mortgage protection for FTBs

Ben Burgess is senior adviser and protection specialist of LifeSearch Thinking about our own mortality coupled with how injury or illness could alter our quality of life is not particularly pleasant....

15 Oct 2020

Jane Simpson: Successful sourcing in buy-to-let

Jane Simpson is managing director of TBMC Being able to accurately source buy-to-let (BTL) mortgages is one of the challenges of successfully placing cases for landlord clients. The marketplace for buy-to-let...

Protection 15 Sep 2020

Jeff Woods: The importance of choice in this time

Jeff Woods is campaigns and propositions director of Sesame Bankhall Group The issue of choice in the protection market has never been more important than right now, but why The impact...

15 Sep 2020

Shaun Almond: Cheapest is not necessarily best

Shaun Almond is managing director of HL Partnership Logic tells us that if two loaves of bread of the same quality are priced so that loaf A is cheaper than loaf...

General Insurance 15 Aug 2020

Rob Evans: Diversity in financial services

Rob Evans is CEO of Paymentshield Recent developments in the Black Lives Matter movement have galvanized dialogue nationwide around institutionalised prejudice, unconscious bias, and black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) under-representation....

Buy-to-Let 10 Aug 2020

Jane Simpson: Continuing change in buy-to-let

Jane Simpson is managing director of TBMC A month is a long time in the buy-to-let mortgage market, which has always been a dynamic sector that continually changes in line with...

Protection 12 Jul 2020

Paul Yates: Time to make a new plan, Stan

Paul Yates is product strategy director at iPipeline As the UK slowly makes its way out of lockdown, the attention of many businesses has shifted from dealing with the immediate consequences...

Protection 11 Jul 2020

Ben Burgess: Five helpful protection changes

Ben Burgess is senior protection adviser at LifeSearch We are all becoming more aware of the economic, logistical, and administrative limitations the pandemic has wrought upon our industry. Simply put, it...

Conveyancing 24 Jun 2020

Steve Goodall: Digital change has been accelerated

Steve Goodall is CEO of ULS Technology Lockdown has taught us many lessons, but one that is particularly poignant for me has been the speed at which all of us have...

Conveyancing 24 Jun 2020

Tom Bessant: Pros of exchange and completion in one

Tom Bessant is partner, commercial property department at Parker Bullen In April, Zoopla estimated that around 373,000 property transactions, with a total value of £82bn, were on hold. Since then, the...

Equity Release 24 Jun 2020

Claire Barker: Equity release must adapt

Claire Barker is managing director of Equilaw With social distancing measures looking likely to remain in force for the foreseeable future, it is essential for financial service providers to adapt and...

Equity Release 24 Jun 2020

Alice Watson: Time to review retirement needs

Alice Watson is head of marketing and communications at Canada Life We’ve all had a lot more time on our hands, whether we’ve spent it thinking about seeing family or...

Equity Release 24 Jun 2020

Hattie Tales: The industry is embracing tech

Hattie Tales is a BDM at Pure Retirement We are living and working through unfamiliar times. As an industry, we have needed to react and adjust like never before to ensure...

Equity Release 24 Jun 2020

Stuart Wilson: A change is gonna come

Stuart Wilson is CEO of Air Group Given the momentous nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and its ongoing impact on the entire property market, let alone the equity release sector, it...

Building Societies 24 Jun 2020

Jeremy Wood: Small building societies could thrive

Jeremy Wood is chief executive of Dudley Building Society Creating a picture of the building society sector in the next one to two years could only be speculative at best, bearing...

General Insurance 24 Jun 2020

Geoff Hall: Health and Safety post-COVID-19

Geoff Hall is chairman of Berkeley Alexander The pandemic will probably ravage the economy and people’s finances for years to come. The impact has been all encompassing and indiscriminate. Beyond the...

Protection 24 Jun 2020

Jeff Woods: The importance of keeping in touch

Jeff Woods is campaigns and propositions director at Sesame Bankhall Group As financial advisory firms continue to work through this challenging period, two key actions stand out: retaining and developing new...

Protection 24 Jun 2020

Steve Ellis: Compare the concerns

Steve Ellis is head of risk and protection at Premier Choice Group If there is one thing for which we are in this business – that of protecting people’s health and...

Protection 24 Jun 2020

Mark Graves: The outlook after COVID-19

Mark Graves is chief executive officer of Auxilium Partnership A couple of weeks ago we announced our collaboration with UnderwriteMe, where we’ll offer our member firms access to the Protection Platform. Why...

Protection 24 Jun 2020

Andy Philo: Unexpected adviser opportunities

Andy Philo is director of strategic partnerships at Vitality The lockdown has changed life for us all. We’ve all found new ways of working, socialising and parenting. The coronavirus pandemic –...

Protection 24 Jun 2020

Mike Allison: Mental health issues could be here to stay

Mike Allison is head of protection at Paradigm Mortgage Services Mental Health Week has come and gone; there was, quite rightly, a heightened level of awareness this year as it coincided...

Protection 24 Jun 2020

Kevin Carr: Protection can be the pinnacle of insurance

Kevin Carr is chief executive of Protection Review and MD of Carr Consulting It’s just insurance. Home insurance, car insurance, life insurance… It’s all the same. No one likes it, no...

Buy-to-Let 24 Jun 2020

Jane Simpson: Support for tenants and landlords

Jane Simpson is managing director of TBMC Over the last couple of months there have been many conversations around the onus on students to pay rent for university accommodation during the...

Buy-to-Let 24 Jun 2020

Jeff Knight: The first steps on a long road

Jeff Knight is director of marketing at Foundation Home Loans In scanning the buy-to-let (BTL) news section on the Mortgage Introducer website, it’s uplifting to see such a slew of...

Buy-to-Let 24 Jun 2020

Bob Young: We must stay the course

Bob Young is chief executive officer of Fleet Mortgages Many have talked about the qualities required by mortgage market stakeholders throughout this period in order to successfully ‘exit’ themselves post-pandemic in...

Buy-to-Let 24 Jun 2020

Ying Tan: Positive signs but pragmatism required

Ying Tan is founder and chief executive of Dynamo With many lenders returning to the market on the back of the resumption of physical valuations, the buy-to-let (BTL) marketplace has sprung...

High Net Worth 24 Jun 2020

Peter Izard: Social distancing and the property market

Peter Izard is business development manager at Investec Private Bank As businesses and society adapt to the new normal brought about by COVID-19, we’re seeing enormous levels of innovation and adaptation,...

Market 24 Jun 2020

Stuart Miller: We are all going to need each other

Stuart Miller is customer director at Newcastle Building Society Our lives have changed and are being reshaped in ways we couldn’t have imagined – the consequences of which will be with...

Surveying 24 Jun 2020

Joe Arnold: De-coupling valuation and property survey

Joe Arnold is managing director of Arnold & Baldwin Chartered Surveyors I’m slightly baffled by the raft of negative headlines we have seen about the housing market in recent weeks as...

Education 24 Jun 2020

John Somerville: Trust in mortgage advice matters

John Somerville is head of regulatory relationships, corporate and professional learning at The London Institute of Banking & Finance Over the past two years, most people have wanted mortgage advisers to...

Holiday Lets 24 Jun 2020

Jean Errington: Changing prospects for holiday lets

Jean Errington is a BDM at Harpenden Building Society The lockdown is affecting all areas of every business, especially the travel and tourism sectors. The coronavirus outbreak is also causing a widespread...

Conveyancing 24 Jun 2020

Mark Snape: Get ready for the double whammy

Mark Snape is managing director of Broker Conveyancing For the past four years or so, we’ve all been dealing with what would appear to be ‘the great unknown’ when it comes...

General Insurance 24 Jun 2020

Rob Evans: Lighting the path back to growth

Rob Evans is CEO of Paymentshield There are sparks of life in the mortgage market again. May saw the government ease restrictions on the property sector, with house moves resuming and...

AMI 24 Jun 2020

Stacy Reeve: Product value in insurance

Stacy Reeve is senior policy adviser at AMI On 3 June the FCA published guidance on the value of insurance products (GI and pure protection). The focus is on products which, due...

AMI 24 Jun 2020

Robert Sinclair: Showing true colours

Robert Sinclair is chief executive officer of AMI The first week of June saw the interim chief executive of the FCA make his boldest move since taking the reins. In announcing that...

Protection 24 May 2020

Mike Allison: The importance of compliance now

Mike Allison is head of protection at Paradigm Mortgage Services Every day we receive news briefings from the government providing the latest information on coronavirus. We are informed with plenty of...

Market 24 May 2020

David Lownds: Keeping up to date is a difficult task

David Lownds is head of marketing and business development at Hanley Economic Building Society The lending community continues to strike a balance between reactivity and proactivity as we battle our way...

IMLA 24 May 2020

Kate Davies: Finding optimism in times of crisis

Kate Davies is executive director of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) The mortgage market has seen a monumental shake-up to normal activity in recent weeks as the impact of the...

Market 24 May 2020

Stuart Miller: At our best when we work together

Stuart Miller is customer director at Newcastle Building Society Times are undoubtedly tough at the moment in so many ways. The current crisis has created new uncertainties about the health of...

Surveying 24 May 2020

Kevin Webb: Our way of working is changing forever

Kevin Webb is managing director of Legal & General Surveying Services When we emerge from the current crisis, some of the challenges we faced before will persist. Climate change is...

Equity Release 24 May 2020

Alice Watson: Collaboration and communication

Alice Watson is head of marketing and communications at Canada Life Over the last few weeks, coronavirus has significantly impacted our day-to-day lives, and this is no different when it comes...

Equity Release 24 May 2020

Claire Barker: Maintaining standards in challenging times

Claire Barker is managing director of Equilaw As the rising tide of coronavirus cases continues to impact on social and economic conditions around the world, a climate of uncertainty has taken...

General Insurance 24 May 2020

Geoff Hall: Life after COVID-19

Geoff Hall is chairman of Berkeley Alexander With everyone reeling from the impact of COVID-19, the ramifications for brokers’ businesses will be massive. Mortgage sales are likely to take the biggest...

General Insurance 24 May 2020

Rob Evans: What legacy will coronavirus leave?

Rob Evans is CEO of Paymentshield There isn’t an industry in the world that has been unaffected by the coronavirus pandemic. The impact on financial services in particular could be felt...

Protection 24 May 2020

Jeff Woods: The best and the worst of times

Jeff Woods is campaigns and propositions director at Sesame Bankhall Group Although the phrase ‘living in unprecedented times’ has been overused, it is unfortunately true. Another common phrase is that a...

Protection 24 May 2020

Steve Ellis: For when business rises

Steve Ellis is head of risk and protection at Premier Choice Group We are in strange times, and serious ones. Not only are jobs and finances under threat – even for...

Protection 24 May 2020

Alisa Wallington: Financial resilience and DIY haircuts

Alisa Wallington is senior product manager at iPipeline Decision-making has never Really been my strong point, but thanks to COVID-19, my life has become one guilt-ridden decision after the other. Have I...

Technology 24 May 2020

John Dobson: Discard manual AML checks

John Dobson is chief executive of SmartSearch The advent of social distancing has highlighted the shortcomings of many outdated business processes. With lockdown restrictions in place, it simply hasn’t been feasible...

Technology 24 May 2020

David Bennett: Weddings, divorces and being cheerful

David Bennett is commercial director at eKeeper It would be safe to say that Zoom, Teams, WebEx, etc. are no longer the preserve of the techno-savvy nor the office linguist who...

Protection 24 May 2020

Andy Philo: Clients should stay protected

Andy Philo is director of strategic partnerships at Vitality The COVID-19 pandemic has put health, wellness and the value of protection under the spotlight like never before. While March saw a...

Buy-to-Let 24 May 2020

Jane Simpson: Riding out the turbulence

Jane Simpson is managing director of TBMC The buy-to-let (BTL) mortgage market has, unsurprisingly, experienced significant turbulence since the beginning of the coronavirus lockdown, meaning the profile of lenders and products...

Buy-to-Let 24 May 2020

Jeff Knight: Working through the new abnormal

Jeff Knight is director of marketing at Foundation Home Loans Here at Foundation Home Loans, we recently teamed up with Mortgage Introducer on a webinar focused on working through the...

Buy-to-Let 24 May 2020

Bob Young: Don’t discount the statistics

Bob Young is chief executive officer of Fleet Mortgages There is clearly a great appetite for statistics and data analysis within, and around, the UK housing and mortgage market, simply because...

Buy-to-Let 24 May 2020

Ying Tan: Quality advice will prove key

Ying Tan is founder and chief executive of Dynamo Despite enduring some tough weeks, it was good to see the government acknowledge some of the issues surrounding the private rented sector...

AMI 24 May 2020

Robert Sinclair: Business as usual at the FCA

Robert Sinclair is chief executive officer of AMI In its proposed fees budget for 2020/21, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has considered the effect of any fee increases on small firms...

Equity Release 14 May 2020

Stuart Wilson: This was never going to be easy

Stuart Wilson is CEO of Air Group 'Expect the unexpected’ is a mantra you tend to hear a lot in business, along with the phrase, ‘fail to prepare, prepare to fail’....

Technology 4 May 2020

Steve Goodall: The time value of money

Steve Goodall is CEO of ULS Technology That time is money is not a new concept. As I write this column in mid-April, however, it seems bleakly that time is now...

Conveyancing 4 May 2020

Mark Snape: Working together to make it through this

Mark Snape is managing director of Broker Conveyancing By the time you read this, it’s likely that the three-week extension of the lockdown will be over and – judging by...

Education 24 Apr 2020

Craig Middleton: Sheltering from the storm of uncertainty

Craig Middleton is mortgage sales and distribution manager at Harpenden Building Society If we think back to just a few months ago, things were looking up. The ‘will we, won’t we’...

Conveyancing 24 Apr 2020

Mark Snape: Navigating difficult times

Mark Snape is managing director of Broker Conveyancing The nature of writing for this magazine is that, at times, what you write today might not necessarily be the case when...

Equity Release 24 Apr 2020

Claire Barker: Ensuring best practice

Claire Barker is managing director of Equilaw Figures published by the Equity Release Council have revealed that £3.92bn worth of housing equity was released by property owners in 2019, with almost...

Equity Release 24 Apr 2020

Stuart Wilson: Take advantage of the support on offer

Stuart Wilson is CEO of Air Group It has, without doubt, been an extraordinary time recently. I’m conscious that I’m writing this article a couple of weeks prior to you reading it,...

Equity Release 24 Apr 2020

Alice Watson: The changing face of retirement

Alice Watson is head of marketing and communications at Canada Life Retirement is evolving; not only are people living longer than they may have expected, but they may well be working...

Technology 24 Apr 2020

John Dobson: AML tax should be risk-based

John Dobson is chief executive of SmartSearch Last month’s Budget was delivered in extraordinary circumstances. There’s no way of telling exactly when the coronavirus crisis will pass, or what damage it...

Technology 24 Apr 2020

Rameez Zafar: Tech communication during virus crisis

Rameez Zafar is CEO of eligible.ai Most UK businesses have now asked employees to work from home, in quarantine, avoiding human contact to help contain the spread of coronavirus. So, what do...

General Insurance 24 Apr 2020

Geoff Hall: The UK has had a battering

Geoff Hall is chairman of Berkeley Alexander Last month, two winter storms brought major flooding and the UK insurance industry is set to pay out £363m on claims. Although the news agenda...

General Insurance 24 Apr 2020

Rob Evans: Protection during the COVID-19 pandemic

Rob Evans is CEO of Paymentshield Every area of the UK economy has been hit by the outbreak of the coronavirus, and the mortgage market is no exception. For advisers, this...

Protection 24 Apr 2020

Ben Burgess: Income protection or critical illness?

Ben Burgess is senior protection adviser at LifeSearch Taking out decreasing life and critical illness cover for the full amount and term of the mortgage is a tried and tested means...

Protection 24 Apr 2020

Mike Allison: Protection can add real value right now

Mike Allison is head of protection at Paradigm Mortgage Services 'Life assurance needs to be sold not bought’ – not at the moment it doesn’t. I am sure that many involved in...

Protection 24 Apr 2020

Kevin Carr: Pandemic protection

Kevin Carr is chief executive of Protection Review and MD of Carr Consulting Like almost every other part of the economy, coronavirus (COVID-19) has had a huge impact on the protection...

Buy-to-Let 24 Apr 2020

Jane Simpson: Listening to landlords

Jane Simpson is managing director of TBMC As everyone in the UK is adjusting to the societal changes being imposed due to COVID-19, landlords will also be considering the financial impact...

Buy-to-Let 24 Apr 2020

Jeff Knight: Guiding clients through tough times

Jeff Knight is director of marketing at Foundation Home Loans As we continue to operate in unprecedented times, the residential and private rented sectors will come under even more intense...

High Net Worth 24 Apr 2020

Peter Izard: A closer look at UHNW refinancing

Peter Izard is business development manager at Investec Private Bank Expanding a large property portfolio is never easy. Every investor has different goals, and securing the necessary finance to quickly take...

Adverse 22 Apr 2020

Paul Adams: Painting a picture

Paul Adams is sales director at Pepper Money At Pepper Money, we have recently completed the second round of our ongoing research into the attitudes and characteristics of potential mortgage customers...

Buy-to-Let 20 Apr 2020

Ying Tan: Finding answers in stressful times

Ying Tan is founder and chief executive of Dynamo At the moment it’s tough to know what the next day will bring, or where to start when focusing on a particular...

First-time Buyers 20 Apr 2020

Anita Arch: Exploring untapped market potential

Anita Arch is head of mortgage sales at Saffron Building Society The fact that many first-time buyers are struggling to get a foothold on the property ladder is nothing new. Raising...

Buy-to-Let 19 Apr 2020

Bob Young: We must keep things functioning

Bob Young is chief executive officer of Fleet Mortgages Writing this in advance of the April issue of Mortgage Introducer has understandably been somewhat difficult. Indeed, by the time you read...

Buy-to-Let 15 Apr 2020

Alan Cleary: Keeping up to date

Alan Cleary is group managing director of One Savings Bank In these extraordinary times, landlords, like everyone else, can be forgiven if their minds are elsewhere. However, despite everything that’s going...

AMI 5 Apr 2020

Robert Sinclair: Keeping your customers safe

Robert Sinclair is chief executive officer of AMI It’s hard to believe that, at the time of writing, it’s been less than two weeks since the UK went into lockdown and...

Technology 2 Apr 2020

Steve Goodall: Don’t forget the important stuff

Steve Goodall is CEO of ULS Technology As I write this column, the UK is sliding into the grip of coronavirus-related lockdown. Things change hourly, so trying to predict anything accurately or...

Protection 2 Apr 2020

Jeff Woods: How to stay ahead in changing times

Jeff Woods is campaigns and propositions director at Sesame Bankhall Group As I write this on 25 March, world events are changing by the hour as further announcements are made and...

Equity Release 25 Mar 2020

Stuart Wilson: Getting the later life message right

Stuart Wilson is CEO of Air Group When you consider the scope and the potential within the later life lending market, you have to get to grips with some sizeable figures....

Equity Release 25 Mar 2020

Alice Watson: After the rain comes the sun

Alice Watson is head of marketing and communications at Canada Life Spring. The season of regeneration, revitalisation – and rain. The Equity Release Council’s 2019 figures revealed that the market’s decade...

Equity Release 25 Mar 2020

Hattie Tales: Building a reputation in equity release

Hattie Tales is a BDM at Pure Retirement The equity release market has been one of the success stories of the financial services sector in recent years. In 2019 total lending...

Technology 25 Mar 2020

Steve Goodall: Changing the climate landscape

Steve Goodall is CEO of ULS Technology Last year was important for many reasons. However, one of these reasons will have lasting and serious implications for the housing sector - the...

Equity Release 25 Mar 2020

David Lownds: A question of quantity or quality?

David Lownds is head of marketing and business development at Hanley Economic Building Society How often do you see the relatively simple question - quality or quantity This relates to goods...

Protection 25 Mar 2020

Charlotte Harrison: The importance of quality

Charlotte Harrison is product manager at iPipeline I have just bought my first pram. Sorry, not pram - ‘Travel System’. It turned out that this purchase was not the straightforward process I...

Protection 24 Mar 2020

Mike Allison: How trust advice is getting simpler

Mike Allison is head of protection at Paradigm Mortgage Services It is undoubtable that mortgage advisers in our industry want to do the best for their clients. This isn’t necessarily down to...

Buy-to-Let 24 Mar 2020

Ying Tan: Rental demands buoying market

Ying Tan is founder and chief executive of Dynamo Last month I stated that I hoped the government will not target landlords further – in terms of additional regulatory reforms or...

Buy-to-Let 24 Mar 2020

Bob Young: Expect an increase in buy-to-let activity

Bob Young is chief executive officer of Fleet Mortgages In a housing market that is so regionalised, it’s very difficult to make generalist assumptions or predictions, or indeed to talk about...

Buy-to-Let 24 Mar 2020

Jeff Knight: The keys to a strong market

Jeff Knight is director of marketing at Foundation Home Loans The Boris Bounce or Brexit Bounce – whichever you prefer, if either - are cited as having a positive effect...

Buy-to-Let 24 Mar 2020

Jane Simpson: There’s a first time for everything

Jane Simpson is managing director of TBMC There has been a swathe of tax and regulatory changes impacting on the buy-to-let sector in recent years which may have affected the perception...

Adverse 24 Mar 2020

Paul Adams: Landlords and adverse credit

Paul Adams is sales director at Pepper Money Buy-to-let is a market upon which a lot is written, and the consumer and trade press is frequently filled with commentary, analysis and...

IMLA 24 Mar 2020

Kate Davies: Fixing our broken housing market

Kate Davies is executive director of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) Whilst Christopher Pincher’s appointment as the tenth housing minister in as many years has drawn some scepticism from market...

Market 21 Mar 2020

Robin Johnson: International investors eye capital

Robin Johnson is managing director of Kinleigh, Folkard and Hayward Professional Services The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed that UK average house prices rose 2.2% over...

Equity Release 15 Mar 2020

Claire Barker: Keeping standards up

Claire Barker is managing director of Equilaw In December of last year, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) confirmed that it had begun an ‘exploratory’ (though as yet informal) review of the...

AMI 5 Mar 2020

Robert Sinclair: A little top heavy

Robert Sinclair is chief executive officer of AMI The long-awaited Policy Statement on Mortgage Advice and Selling Standards has now been published by the FCA. Whilst the policy changes came into...

Market 2 Mar 2020

Craig Calder: A pre-Budget review

Craig Calder is director of mortgages at Barclays At the time of writing, we sit on the cusp of a delayed Budget and something of a cabinet reshuffle. With this in mind,...

Market 25 Feb 2020

Craig Calder: Looking at the opportunities

Craig Calder is director of mortgages at Barclays In last month’s article I focused on a selection of points from UK Finance’s ‘The Changing Shape of the Mortgage Market’ report. This...

Education 25 Feb 2020

Michael Nicholls: What’s in a name?

Michael Nicholls is relationship manager at LIBF Titles and designations: for many of us they’re important signifiers of what we’ve achieved, the knowledge we’ve built and the level of professionalism...

Conveyancing 25 Feb 2020

Mark Snape: Have you seen the Boris Bounce?

Mark Snape is managing director of Broker Conveyancing Over a month into the new year, how has it been for you While there is still plenty of water to flow...

Conveyancing 25 Feb 2020

David Gilman: The perils of online conveyancing

David Gilman is partner in charge at Blacks Connect Research conducted by the consultancy firm, IRN Research, has discovered that over 60% of consumers who purchased a property in the past...

Equity Release 25 Feb 2020

Claire Barker: Consumer debt and equity release

Claire Barker is managing director of Equilaw Research published by the equity release lender, More2Life, has established that levels of unsecured borrowing are continuing to rise sharply amongst the over 55s,...

Market 25 Feb 2020

Ken Hale: Blurring mortgage product boundaries

Ken Hale is head of lending at Harpenden Building Society Brexit, intercontinental trade wars, quantitative easing, house price escalation. Back in 2000, when people were getting anxious about the Millennium Bug,...

Technology 25 Feb 2020

Steve Goodall: Change best delivered one step at a time

Steve Goodall is CEO of ULS Technology Success stories in tech are becoming something of a rarity as we move into a new era of scrutiny. It’s a truth that has...

Technology 25 Feb 2020

David Bennett: Looking ahead to mortgage tech 2025

David Bennett is commercial director at eKeeper The year is 2025, a time of advancement and technological marvel, where we go to work or the shops in our rocket ships, safe...

Technology 25 Feb 2020

Neal Jannels: Joining the tech dots together

Neal Jannels is managing director of One Mortgage System (OMS) Is 2020 finally the year that the mortgage market gets its act together and harnesses the power of fintech to improve...

Technology 25 Feb 2020

Alain Desmier: Always ask awkward questions

Alain Desmier is co-founder and managing director of Contact State On a weekly basis, the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) hands out rulings and fines to marketers and brands that break its...

Buy-to-Let 25 Feb 2020

Bob Young: More to the market than the Boris bounce

Bob Young is chief executive officer of Fleet Mortgages It has certainly been an interesting start to the year, with a degree of positivity around the UK housing market that wasn’t...

Buy-to-Let 25 Feb 2020

Jane Simpson: Landlords considering their options

Jane Simpson is managing director of TBMC As the end of the financial year approaches, buy-to-let investors will be mindful that mortgage interest tax relief will be phased out completely in...

Buy-to-Let 25 Feb 2020

Alan Cleary: Strength to return in 2020

Alan Cleary is managing director of Precise Mortgages The start of a new year – a new decade for that matter – usually brings a round of predictions from industry experts....

Buy-to-Let 25 Feb 2020

Jeff Knight: Buy-to-let? More of the same, please

Jeff Knight is director of marketing at Foundation Home Loans In most walks of life, a request to deliver ‘more of the same, please’ would be seen as a positive....

Buy-to-Let 25 Feb 2020

Paul Adams: Future lies with choice and opportunity

Paul Adams is sales director at Pepper Money Few areas of the market attracts quite as much commentary as buy-to-let, possibly because of the sheer volume or regulatory and taxation changes...

Market 25 Feb 2020

Robin Johnson: London ready, steady and go for recovery

Robin Johnson is managing director of Kinleigh, Folkard and Hayward Professional Services London’s property market is often referred to as different from the rest of the UK, something which has...

Market 24 Feb 2020

Stuart Miller: Housing returns to the political agenda

Stuart Miller is customer director at Newcastle Building Society The Budget is set for 11 March, and we are all waiting to see just how radical Sajid Javid is going to...

AMI 10 Feb 2020

Robert Sinclair: The dangerous devil in the detail

Robert Sinclair is chief executive officer of AMI The long-awaited Policy Statement on Mortgage Advice and Selling Standards has now been published by the FCA. Whilst the policy changes came into...

Equity Release 2 Feb 2020

Stuart Wilson: Squaring the consumer circle

Stuart Wilson is CEO of Air Group It is incredibly early days in both this new year, and new decade, but I get the sense from many others working in the...

General Insurance 1 Feb 2020

Rob Evans: A look inside a GI provider

Rob Evans is CEO of Paymentshield I usually use this column to talk about the market, the opportunities within general insurance (GI) and ideas that could help you to grow your...

Education 25 Jan 2020

Michael Nicholls: Attracting a new generation of advisers

Michael Nicholls is relationship manager at LIBF The mortgage and financial advice industry face a growing problem – we, like the customers we serve, are an aging population. Various figures...

Technology 25 Jan 2020

Steve Goodall: Remortgages need a rethink

Steve Goodall is CEO of ULS Technology You might think that lawyers voting for less law would be akin to turkeys voting for Christmas. In many cases, you could well be...

Equity Release 25 Jan 2020

Alice Watson: Home finance options for ageing society

Alice Watson is head of marketing and communications at Canada Life As we look back on the decade, I suspect that most of us are feeling older, but not all the...

Equity Release Surveying 25 Jan 2020

Kevin Webb: The evolving nature of later life lending

Kevin Webb is managing director of Legal & General Surveying Services In 2019, the number of households in the UK grew by 249,000 from the previous year to 27.8 million, a...

General Insurance 25 Jan 2020

Geoff Hall: Endings and new beginnings?

Geoff Hall is chairman of Berkeley Alexander The start of a New Year always turns thoughts to resolutions and new beginnings. It may feel counter intuitive to be planning exit strategies...

General Insurance 25 Jan 2020

Paul Thompson: Let’s start banging the FloodRe drum

Paul Thompson is founder and CEO of Cavere Intermediary Flooding in Fishlake, the most recent in a series of major floods to hit the UK in recent years, has once...

Equity Release 25 Jan 2020

Claire Barker: Improving knowledge for all

Claire Barker is managing director of Equilaw Quarterly figures from the Equity Release Council have revealed that the equity release (ER) sector is continuing to grow at a staggering rate, with...

Buy-to-Let 25 Jan 2020

Anita Arch: Helping clients with expat buy-to-let

Anita Arch is head of mortgage sales at Saffron Building Society For many, the opportunity to live and work abroad has great appeal. However, becoming an ‘expat’ comes with a myriad...

Protection 25 Jan 2020

Kevin Carr: Reflections on IP

Kevin Carr is chief executive of Protection Review and MD of Carr Consulting It’s been a great year for income protection (IP). Thanks to a combination of raised awareness, product innovation...

Buy-to-Let 25 Jan 2020

Jane Simpson: 2020 vision for buy-to-let

Jane Simpson is managing director of TBMC It is expected that gross buy-to-let lending in 2019 will be recorded at around £37bn but what are the prospects for this sector in...

Buy-to-Let 25 Jan 2020

Ying Tan: Learn from the trends of 2019

Ying Tan is founder and chief executive of Dynamo The UK housing market is a multi-faceted beast containing hundreds of micro marketplaces. Each have their own collection of conditions and challenges which...

Buy-to-Let 25 Jan 2020

Bob Young: We finally have some certainty

Bob Young is chief executive officer of Fleet Mortgages Elections by their very nature are divisive events and, given our political climate over the past few years, they tend to be...

Buy-to-Let 25 Jan 2020

Jeff Knight: Finding the broker opportunities

Jeff Knight is director of marketing at Foundation Home Loans I recently put together a presentation for one of our distribution partners and an adviser-based audience. This provided a great...

Market 25 Jan 2020

Robin Johnson: Our resilient market needed a break

Robin Johnson is managing director of Kinleigh, Folkard and Hayward Professional Services It feels as though we have been writing the same column month in, month out for more than...

Buy-to-Let 15 Jan 2020

Alan Cleary: What does 2020 hold in store?

Alan Cleary is managing director of Precise Mortgages I'm not typically one for Mystic Meg-style predictions, but this year I think there are a few trends that are likely to persist...

Market 15 Jan 2020

Peter Izard: The outlook for London property

Peter Izard is business development manager at Investec Private Bank There’s reason to believe that 2020 could prove a turning point for the prime London property market. Research from Savills suggests that...

Adverse 15 Jan 2020

Paul Adams: The right mortgage for a client in a DMP

Paul Adams is sales director at Pepper Money The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has recently published the sixth round of its Wealth and Assets Survey, which includes detailed information on...

Equity Release 14 Jan 2020

Stuart Wilson: Welcome to the roaring twenties

Stuart Wilson is CEO of Air Group Welcome to a New Year and indeed a new decade. As the ‘roaring twenties’ begin, I can’t help think of the George Michael song, ‘Waiting...

General Insurance 14 Jan 2020

Rob Evans: A guide to increasing GI sales

Rob Evans is CEO of Paymentshield The propensity for borrowers to take 5-year fixed rates and the growing popularity of product transfers will put pressure on brokers future earnings. As such the...

Protection 14 Jan 2020

Mike Allison: Let’s continue the protection positivity

Mike Allison is head of protection at Paradigm Mortgage Services As we start another year we might be already wondering if we’ve kept those New Year resolutions we set out on...

Conveyancing 10 Jan 2020

Mark Snape: 2020 looks set to be a good year

Mark Snape is managing director of Broker Conveyancing Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and it’s been interesting to listen to all the political commentators who ‘knew full well’ that Boris...

Market 15 Dec 2019

Paul Adams: A great reason to pick up the phone

Paul Adams is sales director at Pepper Money Christmas can be the most wonderful, and expensive, time of the year. So, it is fair to assume that over the coming weeks the...

Buy-to-Let 15 Dec 2019

Ken Hale: Holiday lets – a growing opportunity

Ken Hale is head of lending at Harpenden Building Society As sterling continues to come under pressure, and speculation rises about the ease of travel to other parts of Europe, the...

Market 15 Dec 2019

Peter Izard: The surprising opportunity in HNW remortgages

Peter Izard is business development manager at Investec Private Bank How are you planning to achieve your targets next year Planning can be difficult in an uncertain political environment, but one thing...

Market 15 Dec 2019

Stuart Miller: It turns out size really does matter

Stuart Miller is customer director at Newcastle Building Society As a smaller lender than some, we have both advantages and disadvantages. We don’t have snazzy online algorithms that underwrite borrower applications...

Market 15 Dec 2019

Craig Calder: The wonderful world of mortgages

Craig Calder is director of intermediaries at Barclays Mortgages As 2019 comes to a close, it’s not unreasonable to say that it has proved to be a challenging yet eventful year...

AMI 13 Dec 2019

Robert Sinclair: Cultural awareness

Robert Sinclair is chief executive at the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) As a responsible trade body, AMI has always wanted an effective and efficient regulator. In the FCA we have...

Protection 18 Nov 2019

Steve Ellis: All in our debt

Steve Ellis is head of risk and protection at Premier Choice Group We are all in the business of debt – mortgage brokers, healthcare intermediaries, IFAs. Hopefully by selling protection, household or...

Protection 18 Nov 2019

Jeff Woods: Appreciating where advisers add value

Jeff Woods is campaigns and propositions director at Sesame Bankhall Group Over recent months we’ve been undertaking a large-scale insight project to gauge our understanding of the protection market from different...

Protection 18 Nov 2019

Andy Philo: Now’s the time to discuss IP

Andy Philo is director strategic partnerships and employee distribution at Vitality It’s still assumed that term life insurance comes top in the hierarchy of protection needs. While a homeowner’s life insurance pay...

General Insurance 18 Nov 2019

Charlotte Harrison: From the mediaeval reformation to protection

Charlotte Harrison is product manager at iPipeline Like most history graduates I knew straightaway that insurance was the only industry I wanted to work in. It was a no brainer to...

Protection 18 Nov 2019

Kevin Carr: Getting in early

Kevin Carr is chief executive of Protection Review and managing director of Carr Consulting & Communications With mental health underwriting becoming ever more topical it’s great to see insurers announcing new...

Buy-to-Let 18 Nov 2019

Jane Simpson: Buy-to-let innovations

Jane Simpson is managing director at TBMC The buy-to-let mortgage market has come under pressure in recent years due to the multitude of tax and regulatory changes aimed at the sector. However,...

Buy-to-Let 18 Nov 2019

Ying Tan: Tracking the trends for buy-to-let

Ying Tan is founder and chief executive at Dynamo Last month I looked at how the value attached to the advice process should never be underestimated. This was alongside the importance...

Buy-to-Let 18 Nov 2019

Bob Young: There is more to a decision than rates

Bob Young is chief executive officer at Fleet Mortgages In our market there can be a tendency to put the cart before the horse, especially when it comes to analysing and...

Buy-to-Let 18 Nov 2019

Alan Cleary: Lies, damn lies and statistics

Alan Cleary is group managing director at Precise Mortgages I always tend to take stories which contain statistics with a big pinch of salt. I’ve been around long enough to know...

Buy-to-Let 18 Nov 2019

Jeff Knight: The buy-to-let market is a mixed bag for now

Jeff Knight is director of marketing at Foundation Home Loans We’re all acutely aware of the uncertainty that exists within political circles and the UK economy. This means that buy-to-let lenders are...

Buy-to-Let 18 Nov 2019

Chris Maggs: A brighter future for buy-to-let

Chris Maggs is senior commercial manager at Accord Buy To Let After what feels like many months of negative press on the buy-to-let market, the most recent lending figures from UK...

Education 18 Nov 2019

Michael Nicholls: Preparing for regulatory changes from the FCA

Michael Nicholls is relationship director at LIBF The FCA Consultation on mortgage advice and selling standards (CP19/17) has just closed, after May’s report highlighting some key aspects of the current mortgage...

Market 18 Nov 2019

Robin Johnson: Why the sum of the parts matter to customers

Robin Johnson is managing director of Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward Professional Services In a property market that presents as many opportunities and challenges as the current one, I am constantly being...

Adverse 18 Nov 2019

Paul Adams: There are 1.26 million reasons to read this article

Paul Adams is sales director at Pepper Money The mortgage market is awash with high level data about the number of CCJs and defaults that are helping to drive the growth...

Expats 18 Nov 2019

Anita Arch: Expats on the move

Anita Arch is head of mortgage sales at Saffron Building Society Over the past five years, the UK news has focussed on the number of people coming here to live from...

Market 18 Nov 2019

Stuart Miller: All together now for the good of everyone

Stuart Miller is customer director at Newcastle Building Society I recently read a blog by Capital Economics’ group chief economist, Neil Shearing, arguing that globalisation has ‘peaked’. He argued that ‘there is...

18 Nov 2019

Craig Calder: Maintaining first-time buyer sector momentum

Craig Calder is director of intermediaries at Barclays Mortgages In last month’s piece I focused on how important good quality professional advice is, in terms of offering access to the right...

AMI 18 Nov 2019

Robert Sinclair: Goldilocks forgets the porridge

Robert Sinclair is chief executive of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries After a process as long as Brexit, the FCA has finally coughed up its new affordability rules to deal with...

AMI 18 Nov 2019

Robert Sinclair: SM&CR is now upon us

Robert Sinclair is chief executive of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries Remember, remember the 9th of December. This is, or was depending on when you read this, the magic date when...

AMI 9 Oct 2019

Robert Sinclair: The bigger ticking bombs

Robert Sinclair is chief executive of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries The market appears stable, with forecasts suggesting that transactions will reach 1.2 million in 2019, in line with the long-term...

Buy-to-Let 9 Oct 2019

Ying Tan: Don’t underestimate the value of advice

Ying Tan is chief executive of Dynamo We’re all at the coalface of the advice process and used to seeking answers to some difficult questions – whether these are from clients,...

Protection 9 Oct 2019

Mike Allison: Firms go extra mile on mental health

Mike Allison is head of protection at Paradigm Mortgage Services There has been much discussion recently about access to insurance for people with mental health difficulties and there is still a...

Protection 9 Oct 2019

Andy Philo: Should mortgage protection be mandatory?

Andy Philo is director strategic partnerships and employee distribution at Vitality There’s a long-running debate about whether it should be compulsory for people to buy protection when taking out a mortgage....

Equity Release 9 Oct 2019

Steve Ellis: Helping out family safely

Steve Ellis is head of risk and protection at Premier Choice Group The difficulties young people are facing getting on the housing market ladder are well documented. The disparity between earnings...

Equity Release 9 Oct 2019

Claire Barker: The risks of Retirement Interest-Only

Claire Barker is managing director of Equilaw At the National Later Life Adviser Conference in June, former FCA mortgage policy manager, Lynda Blackwell questioned the residential approach that the regulator had...

Equity Release 9 Oct 2019

Alice Watson: Supporting advisers is key to growth

Alice Watson is head of marketing and communications at Canada Life Home Finance Whether it’s relationships, a job offer or selecting the right home finance product, expert and trusted advice helps...

General Insurance 9 Oct 2019

Geoff Hall: Objects of desire

Geoff Hall is chairman of Berkeley Alexander It is important to keep jewellery valuations on GI policies up to date. Diamond prices in particular saw spikes between 2005 and 2010 and...

General Insurance 9 Oct 2019

Rob Evans: Now is the time to future-proof your business

Rob Evans is CEO of Paymentshield How do you choose the right GI partner to work with Traditionally, the key considerations have been risk footprint, breadth of cover, the number and quality...

General Insurance 9 Oct 2019

Paul Thompson: Should brokers subscribe to the subscription model?

Paul Thompson founder and CEO of Cavere Intermediary I’ll admit I was sceptical when the first subscription insurance product launched last year. If I’m honest I struggled to see how it...

Adverse 9 Oct 2019

Paul Adams: Laying the foundations to your new opportunity

Paul Adams is sales director at Pepper Money How much do we know and understand about the changing trends and demographics of your potential clients and why is this important to...

Protection 9 Oct 2019

Charlotte Harrison: Unlocking protection potential

Charlotte Harrison is product manager at iPipeline I was recently shown an advert online for a homemade canoe. The description read: ‘I built this canoe in 2009 using marine ply, tape...

Buy-to-Let 9 Oct 2019

Bob Young: Labour’s plans could open a can of worms

Bob Young is chief executive officer of Fleet Mortgages The political situation is moving so quickly that it seems slightly pointless to speculate on the policies and measures that have been...

Buy-to-Let 9 Oct 2019

Jane Simpson: Limited company buy-to-let on the rise

Jane Simpson is managing director at TBMC At TBMC, we have seen a significant rise in the number of limited company buy-to-let applications being submitted. Since the beginning of 2019, over 25%...

Buy-to-Let 9 Oct 2019

Kevin Webb: Cladding is a problem for everyone

Kevin Webb is managing director of Legal & General Surveying Services It is more than two years since the tragedy at Grenfell, and still there is a huge amount of confusion...

Market 9 Oct 2019

Stuart Miller: We all need to do more for our intermediaries

Stuart Miller is customer director at Newcastle Building Society Earlier this month we welcomed John Truswell as our new head of intermediary mortgages. John has more than 30 years’ experience in...

Technology 9 Oct 2019

Kevin Paterson: Cause versus effect

Kevin Paterson As a British Gas customer and keen technology enthusiast, I have been an enthusiastic adopter of the Hive smart home platform created by Centrica, the parent company of British...

Conveyancing 9 Oct 2019

David Gilman: Getting the simple things right

David Gilman is partner in charge, Blacks Connect It is customary when judging the relative merits or deficiencies of modern conveyancing practices, or of evaluating standards of service within the industry,...

Conveyancing 9 Oct 2019

Mark Snape: Now isn’t the time to rest on your laurels

Mark Snape is managing director of Broker Conveyancing Over a decade on from the Credit Crunch, it’s clear to see that we are a long way down the road from that...

Technology 9 Oct 2019

Steve Goodall: Ignorance is no defence in the eyes of the law

Steve Goodall is chief executive at ULS Technology According to UK Finance, last year the advanced security systems and innovations in which the finance industry invests to protect customers stopped more...

Market 9 Oct 2019

Simon Taylor: Adapting to the latest market challenges

Simon Taylor is chief commercial officer at Saffron Building Society Saffron Building Society celebrates its 170th birthday this year. At the start of the year, our chief executive Colin Field talked...

Education 9 Oct 2019

Michael Nicholls: Should smaller firms pool their resources?

Michael Nicholls is relationship director at LIBF The recent Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Consultation on mortgage advice and selling standards appeared to roll back on its own 2014 regulations. One of...

Market 9 Oct 2019

John Phillips: The B-word is still impacting activity

John Phillips is national operations director at Just Mortgages and Spicerhaart The latest UK Finance Mortgage Trends Report revealed that, after propping up the market for some time, remortgaging fell for...

Buy-to-Let 9 Oct 2019

Jeff Knight: Learning from the changes

Jeff Knight is director of marketing of Foundation Home Loans In order to look forward, it’s also prudent to sometimes look back. Understanding how the buy-to-let sector has been reshaped and...

Market 9 Oct 2019

Robin Johnson: Delivering value is more important than ever

Robin Johnson is managing director of Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward Professional Services All businesses know that establishing strong, long relationships with their clients is good for the bottom line. It doesn’t matter...

Market 9 Oct 2019

Craig Calder: Consumers need brokers more than ever

Craig Calder is director of intermediaries at Barclays Mortgages We talk a lot in the industry about how the mortgage market has evolved though tech advances, product innovation and criteria enhancements...

Buy-to-Let 9 Oct 2019

Alan Cleary: The continued rise of portfolio buy-to-let

Alan Cleary is managing director of Precise Mortgages It doesn’t surprise me to read that, for the first time, more than half of lenders are now offering limited company buy-to-let...

Buy-to-Let 8 Oct 2019

Chris Maggs: A brighter future for buy-to-let

Chris Maggs is senior commercial manager at Accord Buy To Let After what feels like many months of negative press on the buy-to-let market, the most recent lending figures from UK...

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July 2021 Issue

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