The poll, which questioned 2000 younger people, dubbed generation Y, showed that 85% will research mortgages through the internet, yet only 10% will apply this way. Over half will also ask the advice of family and friends.
Delivering the figures at the Mortgage Business Expo, Lee Gladwell, director of business development at Platform, said there was huge opportunity in the intermediary market and revealed it intends to increase its lending through advisers in 2011.
He said: “Consumers need advice more than ever, as we are going to see a lot of people excluded from the market. There is a great future for intermediary distribution, but it will not be an easy environment to operate in.”
However, 53% of people in the survey said they would arrange their mortgage direct, while just 14% said they would go through a broker and 33% were unsure.
The top reasons to go direct were that it was easier, more convenient and quicker. The top reasons to use a broker were also that it was easier, and that there is better advice and deals.
Yet, Colin Snowdon, chief executive of residential mortgages at Aldermore, said in the same discussion that he believed many people did not fully understand what direct really means and often end up going through an intermediary.
Gladwell said: “It will be a tough market for the next year or two, but there is a huge opportunity for the intermediary sector. But there is a need for a much more professional advice sector that is much better at marketing itself and the benefits of advice.”
Indeed, Snowdon said his key piece of advice to advisers was: “Be professional. Never cease to regard it as important.”
