Brokers highlighted volatile mortgage rates and ongoing global uncertainty as the standout features of the year compared with 2025.
1. What has been the single biggest change within the mortgage market this year that has affected your client relationships and conversations?
El Deane, director of AND Mortgages and Protection, said: “The sharp rate increases in the spring prompted a change of tack with communications with clients: I will only move forward with recommendations as and when the client is happy, so to have to communicate the urgency and push for final information and documentation whilst explaining that the shelf life of products was uncharacteristically short, called for some firmer boundaries and clearer communications.”
Matt Tilbury, executive mortgage and protection adviser at Just Mortgages, commented: “I would say it has to be interest rate uncertainty; we have gotten comfortable with returning to a semi-stable market, with clear patterns of rate rises or drops, but currently with all the troubles around the globe rates are up and then down and then back up again. This in itself means that you need to get your clients to commit to rates quicker than before and act decisively with applications, but also poses the much more difficult question to answer.”
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A broker at Access Financial Services said: “The biggest change has probably been the sheer amount of uncertainty advisers have had to manage with clients.” They continued: “Affordability has also remained a major part of the conversation. Clients are increasingly looking beyond the headline rate and asking what they can realistically afford over the long term.”
Samantha Lindsay, mortgage adviser and founder of My Mortgage Angel, said: “Market uncertainty has dominated conversations. Global events, political instability and changing expectations around interest rates have all contributed to fluctuating mortgage pricing, leaving clients looking for reassurance and certainty.”
2. What, if anything, shook your confidence this year?
Lindsay said: “Seeing just how quickly global events, particularly decisions made in the US, can impact the UK economy and mortgage market has been a real reminder of how interconnected financial markets have become.”
Deane added: “The market volatility and pace of change that we have seen this year have left brokers in a vulnerable and reactive position. Managing expectations, doing the right thing effectively and efficiently with an unknown and, as a fast-growing firm, unpredictable workload has been a steep learning curve.”
Tilbury said: “The housing market activity slowing to a snail’s pace currently is a real worry. Normally, throughout previous challenging times in the market, people have continued to move, but this time feels different and that people are holding off unless totally necessary at the moment. There doesn’t seem to be an end to it, as every time things start to look positive, something else happens to drag it back.”
3. What is some good practice you want to share with brokers to take them to the end of the year?
The broker at Access Financial Services said: “Don’t try to predict the market.”
Tilbury added: “With so few buyers out there at the moment, you can be sure that every other broker they may come in to contact with via other agents will be trying to win them from you. So you need to make sure you are the most important part of the process to them.”
Jo Carrasco, business partnerships director at Stonebridge Mortgage and Protection Network, shared her view of the current broker sentiment. “Advisers have had a lot to deal with this year, but they’re a resilient bunch.”
She added: “The same event that might shake the confidence of borrowers ends up being the catalyst for a renewed respect for advisers’ expertise. This was particularly important for those remortgaging earlier this year, and the advisers we authorise worked all hours to ensure borrowers were able to lock in rates before their monthly repayments soared.
“Looking ahead in terms of best practice, advisers need to double down on ensuring that borrowers have the protection they need.”
