There are some good products in the market and lots of new launches, the most exciting of which is Barclays’ new Family Springboard mortgage.
This is the first real launch we have seen of a high profile 95% LTV mortgage that will be of real help to first-time buyers.
One of the keys with this is the fact that it’s so high profile.
The television adverts are engaging and they get the message across that you don’t have to have a 20% deposit to buy a house or change your mortgage and that there are other mortgages available for those with smaller deposits.
This in itself is likely to have a very positive knock on effect, potentially on a number of people who haven’t even looked for a mortgage because they thought the 20% deposit required was out of their reach.
Barclays, justifiably, should see an upturn in business from this campaign, but it is likely that mortgage advisers will also do so as more people decide to take advice to see just what else is out there that may meet their needs.
At the very least it provides advisers with an excellent reason to get in touch with clients, including, or especially, those who they may not have been able to help in the past.
The other positive effect I predict is that other lenders will come back into this arena, the Barclays Springboard mortgage could prove to be a real stimulus with other lenders moving up the risk curve and introducing higher LTV mortgages and other innovative solutions which would be a highly welcome more.
David Copland is director of mortgage services for LSL Financial Services
