NatWest Intermediary Solutions has joined a flurry of lenders to confirm it plans to introduce the payment of mortgage retention fees for brokers later this year.
The bank said it was still introducing the required technical changes, but plans to pay 20bps on completion of each case on both residential and buy-to-let business.
Since the start of the year, TSB, Coventry Building Society and last week, Family Building Society, have all confirmed plans to introduce retention fees in 2017.
Graham Felstead (pictured), head of intermediary mortgages, said: “The topic of retention fees has been one that has been high on brokers’ agendas for some time. We fully appreciate that brokers deserve a level of recompense to reflect the work that they have to do in helping their customers to get the most appropriate deals, including when that is to remain with their existing lender on a new deal. In coming to our decision, we took soundings from many of our business partners to ensure our proposed plans were in line with market expectations.”
He added that he expects the plans to be welcomed as “another positive change that reflects our commitment to the intermediary market”.
Felstead added: “This announcement is one of several exciting changes we will be announcing this year which will allow us to continue to improve our proposition to intermediaries.”
Nationwide remains the last big lender officially holding out on paying retention fees.
On Friday, Mortgage Solutions exclusively reported Santander’s plan to introduce a minimum proc fee of £400 for brokers.
Victoria Hartley is contributing editor at Mortgage Solutions, Specialist Lending Solutions, Your Money and Your Mortgage at London-based publishing company AE3 Media.
She has an MA in Radio from Goldsmiths after gaining a 2:1 in a Comparative American Studies BA at Warwick University. She also holds a TEFL qualification and taught overseas in Mexico and Japan from 1994 to 1997.
Her role includes editorial oversight of the news, analysis and features, event content management and strategic and editorial consultancy for the AE3 Media group. She is an experienced video, broadcast and live-event host and regularly chairs web and podcast debates and interviews.
Multiple award nominations have resulted in two wins: Santander Media Awards, trade journalist of the year and Headlinemoney Awards, mortgage journalist of the year (B2B). Here is one of the award-winning pieces: https://www.mortgagesolutions.co.uk/news/2011/07/21/exclusive-tale-bailey-fraud-witness/
Previous roles include editorships of Mortgage Solutions, consumer title What Mortgage and trade title Credit Today as well as a stint freelancing for a variety of outlets including The Guardian and Which? Money.