According to research by The Mortgage Alliance (TMA), 48% of respondents think the packaging market shows signs of improvement, while 15% think the sector may have turned the corner.
The remaining 37% disagreed with both views.
The survey also found that 41% of respondents thought that the services offered by packagers are relevant in the market when helping to place non-standard deals. A third (33%) are unsure about the statement and 26% said they didn’t believe that packagers were in a position to help them place non standard deals.
Phil Whitehouse, head of TMA, said: “Not everyone will be comfortable using packagers but what is clear is that there is still very much a place for packagers in the market as intermediaries are continuing to struggle with placing the growing number of non-standard borrowers who are failing lenders strict credit scoring.”
The results revealed that 44% of respondents had used a packager in the past three to six months, while 56% said they had not.
Whitehouse added: “There are still specialist lenders out there with an appetite to lend through specialist distributors who can really help with complex applications and clients with non-standard criteria.”
Dale Jannels, sales and marketing director at AToM, added: “Packagers and distributors who have kept close and long term relationships with lenders are being rewarded with an increasing number of exclusive and semi-exclusive mortgage products.”
“I strongly believe our sector has turned the corner and is on a growth spurt and it seems that this is backed up by 48% of those surveyed by TMA.”
