Appearing on Mortgage Solutions Television in association with Kensington Mortgages, the panellists debated how the mortgage and housing market would look next year.
Craig McKinlay, new business director of Kensington Mortgages said he hoped to see a return to normal service levels and product availability before quarter two next year.
“Clearly the market is going to be very busy in the run up to stamp duty ending and [with] the Help to Buy changes, so I think the market will stay busy up until maybe January and then get a bit quieter,” said McKinlay.
“And when it gets quieter hopefully that will allow lenders’ operations to recover and get back to higher LTVs if demand does drop.”
Hosted by contributing editor Samantha Partington, McKinlay was joined by Sally Laker, managing director of Mortgage Intelligence, Martin Reynolds, chief executive of Simply Biz Mortgages, and Adrian Scott, group mortgage services director of Connells Group.
Scott said the natural lull in purchase business after 31 March would give the market chance to regroup and reprice deals competitively, driving down interest rates.
Laker said the period would give brokers chance to get cases through ‘in a timely manner’ once again, however, she thinks there will still be plenty of families who want to move after the stamp duty holiday has ended.
Remortgaging, which looks set to be strong next year, will compensate for any slowdown on the purchase side of the market, said Reynolds.
“The data we’re seeing for cessations for [2021] is up on this year, and that is including a big December this year when some lenders have their biggest cessations ever.”
He added: “Brokers will always be busy.”
