Inviting innovation to the table – Palmer

We’ve been through seismic shifts together, and there are parts of the market, and our roles, that are unrecognisable today compared to even 20 years ago – and not every change has made life easier.

That’s why the lender-broker relationship is more important than ever before. The strength of this partnership directly shapes outcomes for customers, who depend on us for suitable mortgage products and trustworthy, reliable advice.

The Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) was created in 1988 to support a strong, effective intermediary market. Since then, its role has grown as the intermediary channel has grown – and today, with brokers at the heart of almost every mortgage journey, IMLA’s influence as a trade body has never been more important.

Welcoming change

This year, I was elected to IMLA’s management committee as a representative of Gen H. Gen H is a young, fintech lender, built around a simple and urgent mission: to make homeownership accessible to everyone.

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My tenure will begin in January, and this is the first time, to my knowledge, that a fintech lender has held a place on the committee.

Gen H’s presence on the management committee reflects a positive and growing trend within IMLA and the intermediary market as a whole: an openness to new lenders and new technology that can strengthen our ecosystem.

Lenders off the high street are often the first to test new approaches, whether that’s rethinking affordability, eliminating archaic processes, or building broker-focused tech that cuts friction out of the mortgage journey. But historically, throughout the industry, lenders of our size haven’t always been afforded a seat at the tables where decisions are made.

The willingness of IMLA to give lenders like us entrance to this space demonstrates a recognition that innovation isn’t a threat to the status quo. Instead, it’s a force that, when guided collaboratively, benefits the entire market.

A key component of market innovation

As lenders, our decisions influence thousands of brokers and millions of homebuyers.

Industry bodies like IMLA are instrumental in turning industry insights into real policy shifts, such as the positive loan-to-income (LTI) changes recently approved by the regulator. These changes have allowed us to more than triple our high-LTI lending at Gen H, showing how much need exists for bigger mortgages.

By sharing what’s working, and what we are still learning, we can help the industry and the regulator form positions that benefit all of us – lenders, brokers and borrowers – in an increasingly complex landscape.

My role is to bring those Gen H perspectives into discussions that may traditionally have leaned toward the experiences of larger incumbents; to contribute practical learnings as a lender that has built, tested, and refined new ideas, often in direct collaboration with brokers, who challenge us daily to be better partners.

IMLA has long been a forum where lenders collaborate to solve shared problems, advocate for brokers, and influence how our industry works. By including the perspectives of a variety of diverse lenders, IMLA models the kind of constructive, future-focused collaboration our market needs.

We have a big year ahead of us.

Representing Gen H at this table is not just a professional responsibility; it is my opportunity to help the industry evolve in a way that is fair, clear, and more accessible for everyone who depends on us. And I can’t wait to get stuck in.