Earlier this week LSL’s David Copland told Mortgage Solutions that there were some fears that lenders would dual price in an attempt to send more sales through direct channels.
“Because of the pressure on the high street we could see some lenders moving to offer better rates in their branches to try and get close to HSBC,” he said.
This follows direct-only lender HSBC’s decision to price match mortgages at the 90% LTV level on the high street.
However, more than half (51%) of respondents to the latest Mortgage Solutions People’s Poll said they expected brokers to increase their share of the market in the run up to MMR.
One-in-five felt that direct channels would dominate pre-MMR lending while a further 29% expected the market to be split evenly.
“Direct channels have been losing market share and on the high street it’s all about rate, but it depends how aggressive the high street rate war gets,” Copland said.
“They’ll want to go for it until MMR and get as much business on their books.”
