Rotherham-based mortgage intermediary franchise Mortgage Talk, has admitted it is close to signing a deal with a London-based estate agency, its first deal in the South of the country, writes Paul Robertson.
The company franchises an estate agent-based mortgage intermediary service and specialises in bringing in new-build business. It intends to become a national franchise.
Peter Birch, a partner of Mortgage Talk, said: ‘We are keen to get franchises in the South as our average mortgage size in the North is fairly low in comparison to the average in the South. We could become major players in the southern market and our aim is to build a national franchise.’
‘We are looking to recruit as many franchisees as quickly as we can, within the capabilities of being able to service that franchisee properly.’
Last year the company hit around £200m in lending. This year Mortgage Talk claims to be on target for £350m in lending. This is intended as the start of a growth period for the company.
‘Our plans are based on how many house sales they complete. If estate agents dealt with 40,000 house sales a year we would expect to do around 20,000 mortgages. An average mortgage price of £70,000 to £75,000 would mean about £1.5bn in lending. We are looking to rise above Charcol’s levels of £1.2 to £1.3bn a year.’
Although the prospective franchisee has not been named, it is known to be a small independent chain with five or six branches.
