Roe, whose last day in the post is 31 March, took on the role in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, and has steered the banking sector through the introduction of mortgage payment deferrals, the Ukraine invasion, the cost-of-living crisis, the mini Budget and, currently, the Middle East conflict.
His approach was to be “calm in the face of challenges”, remain credible and work with UK Finance’s members to find proportionate solutions for homeowners that did not create unintended consequences.
He also supported policy around lending on flats with cladding and the Homes for Ukraine scheme, and chaired the government’s FloodReady Taskforce.
Roe said it was “really important that when these things come along, we work in an independent but coordinated way with the other trade associations”, adding: “We have to remember that the mortgage market doesn’t exist in isolation, or the mortgage lenders don’t exist in isolation.
“They’ve also got to rely on the multitude of mortgage intermediaries, and that’s where we come to the fore in terms of working with them.”
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Some examples of this collaboration include joint work with the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI), the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA), the Building Societies Association (BSA) and the Equity Release Council regarding vulnerable customers, and working with the AMI to help mortgage prisoners seek advice and switch products.
Gaining trust and staying measured
During his time at UK Finance, Roe said the banking sector “came into its own” and improved its reputation through the support of payment deferrals, extended repossession terms and forbearance arrangements.
“That wasn’t just a one-and-done; the banks have done that on an ongoing basis since then,” he added, saying there had been a “series of challenges” over the last five years.
He added: “When I first started [working] in the mortgage market, when people couldn’t afford their mortgage, they were scared of the bank, and they used to drive up to the bank at three o’clock in the morning and push the keys through the bank’s letterbox and say: ‘Okay, take that, take the house’.
“That doesn’t happen these days, because the banks want to work with those borrowers in financial difficulty.”
In the last nine months, lenders have also cooperated with regulators to amend affordability rules and help more borrowers onto the housing ladder, signifying a willingness to support homeownership, Roe said. Still, UK Finance ensured that lenders’ response to looser mortgage rules remained measured, supported by the association maintaining a “very good dialogue” with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
“We also have good dialogue with the Treasury, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Prudential Regulation Authority, so we speak to regulators and key parts of the government on a regular basis,” he added.
An expansive understanding of the mortgage market
Roe has had the “fortunate” position of balancing a relationship with lenders, brokers and customers, as after a year with UK Finance, he was approached by Rob Clifford, CEO of Stonebridge, to become a non-executive director and chair the network’s risk committee.
“That has given me an amazing insight into the world of the brokers and the networks,” he said, adding that it enabled him to establish relationships while at UK Finance, connecting with the likes of Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB), Legal & General (L&G) Mortgage Club and Sesame.
Roe said this kept him grounded, knowing that he had to “face the board at Stonebridge on things that we’ve done for mortgage brokers as well as lenders”.
Roe’s career before joining UK Finance also set him up for the role, including 10 years at the FCA, as head of what was then called the mortgages and mutuals department. He then went to work at Grant Thornton in an advisory capacity as the Mortgage Credit Directive was being introduced, helping firms understand the EU policy. Later, Roe became chief risk officer at Nottingham Building Society, gaining insight into lending processes.
Roe said: “When this role came up at UK Finance, that pulled everything together in terms of that advisory piece, then from a lender perspective and now, what it’s like to do this on the ground.”
He added that the mortgage market was “amazingly friendly and engaging” to work in, and through all Roe’s media appearances and meetings with regulators, he’s prioritised being “balanced, being fair and being proportionate, recognising that UK Finance represents 120 mortgage lenders with very different business models.”
Roe said he hoped UK Finance was seen as a voice of reason, representing all lenders’ needs, placing importance on spending time with members to understand what was happening both at a policy level and on the ground, and encouraging others working in a trade association capacity to do the same.
“We are reliable, and above all, we’re discreet when we need to be. That’s a huge benefit and attribute,” he added.
Digitisation and later life lending changes are on the horizon
As for what may happen next in the market, Roe predicted that the biggest change would be seen in later life lending.
He said: “We were talking about this recently at our mortgage board. We had Stephanie Charman from AMI and Kelly Melville-Kelly from the Equity Release Council and did a three-way presentation to our board to explain what we were looking for from the later life lending sector. One of our members summed it up really well and said: ‘You’ve got to understand, within the later life piece, you can’t just find one solution that fits all’.
“A 35-year-old borrower taking out a 35-year mortgage will have paid that off in their 70s. They’re effectively a later life borrower, because they’ll be lending into retirement, but at the same time, somebody who is 60 who takes out a 10-year mortgage is also being lent to in retirement. They’re a later life borrower, but their circumstances and their needs are very different.
“Both will be paying off their mortgage when they’re 70, so what does that mean?”
He said the FCA was open to working with lenders and advisers on solutions, particularly around the use of housing wealth to help the next generation, in estate planning, and ensuring people live in suitable homes.
While Roe does not know who his permanent successor will be, he said they needed to be ready for the “huge opportunity to start digitising” the overall home buying and selling sector and making home transactions “easier for the sellers, the buyers, the surveyors, the estate agents, everybody”.
What artificial intelligence (AI) means for the sector will also be key, Roe said, not just “in terms of underwriting, but also in terms of being able to do valuations or being able to look at documentation”.
A recent conversation Roe had with mortgage intermediaries brought about the idea that AI might be useful for continuously screening mortgage applicants who fall just outside of lending criteria, and alerting advisers when their circumstances improve.
Further, he said: “I would also love to see homebuilders build more homes so we can meet demand. The government is falling short of this ambition for a number of reasons, and I’m not blaming any one particular sector for that. Planning approval is difficult to get, the cost of materials is increasing, and the skills needed to build a home are not available. But it’s those sorts of things we need to be supportive of and try and move forward.
“We shouldn’t forget about climate change as well; it is going to become more and more prevalent over the next few years, and the move to net zero as well.”
Roe’s biggest learning over his career was the importance of “having a good partner who understands that the job isn’t 9-5, it’s all-encompassing, but the rewards are enormous and I would say our members are, on the whole, hugely grateful for everything that we do for them, given the breadth of issues they face”.
After leaving UK Finance, Roe will continue with his non-executive duties, enjoy sailing on his yacht and spend time with his family.
“I’m sure I won’t be too far away from the industry. I’ll turn up like a bad penny at a number of events,” he said.
Karina Hutchins will assume the day-to-day responsibility on an interim basis as acting director of mortgages, supported by Ronnell Reffell, acting principal, and the mortgages team.
