In a missive to brokers, the lender said that its business volumes were at record levels and as it prided offering a “personal service” it could not fulfill service levels.
“It’s important to us that we meet both yours and your customers’ expectations and making sure our service levels are back within reasonable timeframes is our priority at this time,” it said.
Hodge added that it was working on a refreshed mortgage range and was committed to prioritising existing cases to ensure it operated responsibly and met the standard of service levels expected.
“We appreciate the challenge you face with a number of lenders withdrawing and increasing their interest rates at this time, and we are committed to communicating updates with you regularly on when we will be re-opening for new business,” it said.
It added that decisions in principle should be submitted by 5pm on Thursday 16 June and full applications needed to be submitted prior to 5pm on Monday 20 June to secure the rate.
Hodge said that submissions received before this date would continue to be serviced, but post the deadline would not be reviewed before new products are available.
The lender offers retirement interest-only mortgages, 50 plus residential mortgages and holiday let mortgages. It also offers commercial mortgages and development finance.
Emma Graham, business development director at Hodge, said: “Pausing new mortgage business applications is not a decision we’ve taken lightly, but it’s one we think best serves our broker network, our team at Hodge and vitally, our customers.
“In the past couple of months our business volumes have been at a record high so we’ve made the decision to pause to support our operational teams in delivering the personal, efficient service Hodge prides itself on.
“I’d like to reassure brokers Hodge is not withdrawing from the market for a prolonged period of time, but rather taking a short break to reset and bring us back to a place where we can meet the standards of service you expect from us.”
Mortgage lender service levels are coming under increased strain due to high levels of mortgage activity as buyers look to secure rates before expected product rises.
Some lenders have had to withdraw products or increase rates quickly to adjust to demand, and players like Molo Finance have had to temporarily suspend products.
