TSLE2019: There are shades of 2009 about this year – Octane Capital

Speaking at The Specialist Lending Event 2019, Octane Capital CEO Jonathan Samuels said that the current market has similarities to that in the financial crisis and warned that brokers should be aware of this.

However, he told the audience at Sandown Park that there are still opportunities to be utilised.

Samuels noted that some of the UK’s wealthiest areas have seen price falls of up to 25% and that developers are finding it hard to sell some of their properties.

“This is not 2009 all over again, but there are shades of it,” he said.

“Why is that relevant? The buy-to-let mortgage market could shrink significantly this year.

“Since the stamp duty changes in 2016 buy-to-let sales have fallen with remortgages picking up the slack.”

Low hanging fruit picked

But he warned that, because so many were put on five-year fixes because of the Prudential Regulation Authority’s stress tests, there were now fewer remortgage opportunities around.

“The low hanging fruit has already been picked, and sales have fallen even lower due to Brexit uncertainty,” he continued.

“[It’s] not the positive outlook I was hoping for, but I think we can all agree that challenging times can sometimes be times of great opportunity for lenders and brokers.”

The Specialist Lending Event 2019 continues next week with registration still open for the events at York and Liverpool.

They are being held at:

12th February – York Racecourse, York

13th February – Aintree Racecourse, Liverpool

More information and free registration can be found on the Specialist Lending Event 2019 website.