This figure includes product transfers, and the club was not able to give an exact figure for the value of product transfers completed.
However the club noted that underlying growth excluding product transfers reached four per cent, defying UK Finance’s 1.1 per cent fall for the wider mortgage market.
Kevin Roberts, director of Legal & General Mortgage Club, (pictured), said: “This has clearly been a positive year for advisers who have supported growth in the mortgage market throughout 2019.
“The intermediary mortgage market has continued to grow over the past twelve months and, amid all the uncertainty of last year, advisers have continued to help thousands of borrowers whether they are buying or remortgaging.
“Adding value to our members as well as raising awareness about the importance of advice is central to our objectives as a mortgage club and over the next year, we’ll be launching further initiatives, continually improving and evolving our proposition to help our adviser members deliver a truly holistic offering.”
The club also noted that 6,482 members had registered to use its SmartrCriteria tool.
Roberts added: “It’s great to see that our members are making the most of these services to evolve and grow their businesses, which has clearly been reflected in fact that advisers using the club have supported growth far beyond the wider mortgage market.”
The lender said the move was the first of several agreements with network partners which will come over the next six months.
Its entire mortgage range was previously available to Legal & General’s Key Partner firms, but this latest move will enable all Legal & General Mortgage Club members access to the society’s products.
Ipswich Building Society head of mortgage sales Kate Ley said: “Over the next six months we’re really looking to expand our distribution.
“We’ve grown a reputation for being particularly active in specialist mortgage markets, such as expat and self-build, and we’re grateful for the broker support we’ve had in this area to date.
“We’re now in a position to be able to extend the opportunity to access our products to other brokers and a wider variety of their clients.”
Ley added that the mutual was looking forward to working alongside Legal & General Mortgage Club to strengthen its broker relationships nationwide.
Danny Belton, head of lender relationships at Legal & General Mortgage Club noted that regional building societies played an important role in the industry.
“We’ve had great feedback from our advisers who have already placed business with Ipswich Building Society, and we are pleased to be extending their terms to offer products to all of our club members.”
Previously, L&G Mortgage Club’s highest level of monthly completions was recorded in October 2018 when £7.1bn of mortgage deals were finalised.
The record month follows a strong year for the club. Lending up to the end of October reached £64.3bn, an increase of six per cent on the same period in 2018.
Kevin Roberts (pictured), director, Legal & General Mortgage Club, said: “We are in a highly competitive mortgage market that has seen lenders widen criteria and drop rates to compete for business.
“This environment has meant borrowers need to rely on the value of advice more than ever and advisers have reacted brilliantly to meet these demands.”
In January, Legal & General Mortgage Club launched its SmartrCriteria search system for its advisers.
The system offers advisers close to 400,000 criteria outcomes from more than 95 lenders across the residential, buy to let and new-build sector.
Kevin Roberts, director of the club, noted that this pressure and tightening of margins was leading to “curiosity” about exploring different market areas.
Speaking at Mortgage Solutions’ The Mortgage and Protection Event, Roberts highlighted that it was important for brokers to understand what lenders were going through.
“We are seeing lenders go up the risk curve in order to find margin in criteria improvements and some of the specialist lenders are doing well,” he told the audience in Manchester.
“But they are feeling the pressure and we have to bear that in mind. From a proc fee perspective, the proc fees they have been paying brokers have also been rising.
“So with the competition on margin and the distribution costs rising, they are being curious,” he added.
No imminent threats
Roberts explained that while this was a “little bit of a threat”, in the same situation brokers would also be looking at their businesses thinking they needed to be curious about doing other things.
“I’m not hearing any imminent threats to proc fees or similar, but they are being curious in terms of if this environment continues, how can they ensure that they can grow their margin,” he continued.
“At the moment, it’s going up the risk curve and working harder to get your business.
“But there’s some curiosity there, and when we marry that with the regulation we look at, you can see where some of that curiosity might be going,” he added.
Registration is still open for the free to attend events in London on 12 November and Southampton on 13 November.
Follow the link below or click here for more information and to register.
https://www.mortgagesolutions.co.uk/events/mortgage-protection-event/?pfat=39c68792ef044ee286cb61726f7e2ed3
Accord reduces rates
Accord Mortgages has reduced rates across its house purchase and remortgage product range.
Highlights of the two-year fixed rate remortgage range include:
- 1.70 per cent, down from 1.92 per cent, at 75 per cent loan to value (LTV) with £250 cashback, free valuation, free legals and a £495 product fee
- 1.99 per cent, down from 2.20 per cent, at 80 per cent LTV with £250 cashback, free legals, free valuation and no product fee
- 2.09 per cent, down from 2.30 per cent, at 85 per cent LTV with £500 cashback, free valuation and no product fee
Those looking to purchase can benefit from reductions of up to 0.32 per cent. Buyers with a 25 per cent deposit can get a five-year fixed rate at 1.90 per cent with £500 cashback, free valuation and £495 product fee.
Jemma Anderson, product manager at Accord Mortgages, said: “In such a volatile market, it’s understandable that clients, either starting on the property ladder or approaching the end of their existing term, may be undecided as to what to do next.
“Brokers are best placed to offer advice and with rate reductions, a variety of term lengths and enhanced benefits like cashback and free valuation, there are now even more options available when trying to find the right product.”
Clydesdale Bank Intermediaries
Clydesdale Bank Intermediaries is reducing rates by up to 0.35 per cent across its residential five-year fixed rate mortgage range.
Its five-year fixed to 75 per cent LTV now has a rate of 2.19 per cent, previously 2.34 per cent, while its five-year fixed to 80 per cent LTV has been reduced from 2.44 per cent to 2.24 per cent.
Products are available for loan sizes between £80,000 to £1,000,000, except for the 90 per cent LTV product which is available for loan sizes between £80,000 to £499,999.
Product fees are £999 for loan sizes up to £499,999, and £1,499 for loan sizes of £500,000 and over, except for the fee offer product which benefits from no product fee.
All products are available for purchase and remortgage applications, with remortgage applications benefiting from a remortgage switching package free valuation and standard legal fees.
The fee offer product also benefits from one free valuation for purchase applications on properties worth £2m or less.
Fred Sharp, head of mortgage distribution, said: “Longer term fixed rates are becoming more popular, so we are improving our five year range to ensure our broker partners are able to offer their clients who require certainty of payments a competitive range of products.”
L&G Mortgage Club members get Precise exclusive
Legal & General Mortgage Club has agreed an exclusive help to buy product for members, available through Precise Mortgages in England.
Members can access a two-year fixed rate Help to Buy product, available at 75 per cent LTV.
With a rate of 3.94 per cent, the product has a minimum loan value of £25,000 and a maximum value of £450,000 with fees of £995. There is also a refund valuation fee available of up to £630 which is payable on completion.
The product is aimed at helping first-time buyers with a small deposit get onto the property ladder. This includes the need for only one sustainability check and one year of self-employed trading.
Danny Belton, head of lender relationships at Legal & General Mortgage Club, said: “With so many first-time buyers taking advantage of the Help to Buy scheme, having specifically designed products from specialist lenders with carefully thought out features such as the fixed, and partially refundable, valuation fee on this exclusive is crucial.
“The team at Precise Mortgages have a dedicated new build priority processing team to support customers and their development of products like this is helping to improve credit availability for those making their first moves onto the property ladder.”
Harpenden BS provides mortgages tailored to the requirements of the customer and has a policy of lending to people in different types of employment.
Danny Belton, head of lender relationships, Legal and General Mortgage Club said: “The popularity of regional building societies is on the rise and Harpenden Building Society’s work to provide borrowers with products best suited to their individual needs, makes them a fantastic addition, benefitting both brokers and customers.”
Ken Hale, head of lending at Harpenden Building Society added: “Working closely with Legal and General Mortgage Club will provide us with greater access to borrowers, allowing us to help both aspiring and existing homeowners to access the finance they need, at the best rates available.”
Earlier this week, Harpenden BS chief executive Sarah Howe explained that borrowers on higher incomes were still facing problems getting access to mortgage finance.
Speaking on Specialist Lending Solutions Television in association with Together, Firth noted that the fresh mindset for new arrivals was a very welcome situation.
“New brokers to the industry are in a fantastic position because they’ve got no preconceived ideas about even what specialist means,” she said.
“They are looking at a case with fresh eyes and the world at their feet.”
“Use the systems, use the help desks, use BDMs (business development managers), look at every case as a blank page, I think it’s a great position for them to come at the specialist market from,” she added.
Legal and General Mortgage Club head of lender relationships Danny Belton echoed those thoughts and noted there was no need to be fearful of potentially complex situations.
“My advice is don’t be afraid of these customers. They are good customers, they are able to be helped,” he said.
The panel is:
Danny Belton, head of lender relationships at Legal and General Mortgage Club
Nicola Firth, CEO of Knowledge Bank,
Doug Hall, director of 3mc
Richard Tugwell, group intermediary relationships director at Together
Owain Thomas, editor of Specialist Lending Solutions (chairman)
See all five parts of the video debate discussing the biggest issues in the sector
Click here to return to the Together specialist lending hub.
Director Kevin Roberts (pictured) highlighted the incoming change during an interview in the Legal & General Mortgage Club Awards supplement.
The club said advisers can now see how much money they are due to receive in its ClubHub and whether it is pending or has been paid.
This follows a recent update allowing advisers to see their proc fee history and the club said it will continue to update the system in response to adviser feedback.
SmartrCriteria trial extended
Legal & General Mortgage Club has also extended the free trial for SmartrCriteria until the end of the year for all new users and will remain free for selected key partners.
It said more than 4,000 members have registered and are using the system.
Roberts said the club was determined to ensure the best possible outcomes for advisers and customers.
“We believe that by harnessing technology like SmartrCriteria and ClubHub we can help more brokers to streamline the mortgage conversation and find the best solution for their customers,” he said.
“We’ve maintained an open channel between our members and the product development team to ensure that any feedback is really taken on board and we’re confident our improvements will make advisers’ lives easier, allowing them to give high quality advice efficiently.”
Delivering a speech at its annual awards, Roberts (pictured) said the club was working hard to influence the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) thinking, but this needed to be replicated across the industry.
“We are working hard on our value of advice campaign and we are working hard to influence the regulator’s thinking,” he said.
“We will continue this journey and are pleased that many of you are actively supporting us. However, there is room to do more.
“Our research shows that potentially thousands of borrowers still don’t know how an adviser can help with their mortgage and as a result they are missing out.”
Engage industry and beyond
Roberts was addressing the FCA’s approach to encouraging the growth of execution-only process for borrowers taking out mortgages.
This proposal has left many in the industry worried that consumers will be exposed as they lose the protections available through advice.
Legal & General Mortgage Club’s Value of Advice research found that consumers who use brokers were more likely to switch lender when remortgaging than those who secured a mortgage direct.
And Roberts added that they were also more likely to be informed about protection options and how to protect their family.
“Now is the time for us all to be vocal about the value of advice,” he continued.
“Never has it been as important to ensure we are engaging across our industry and beyond to ensure that the value of advice can be heard and most importantly understood.”
Improve mortgage journey
Roberts also revealed that the mortgage club was continuing its strong performance with seven per cent growth over the year so far, following 12 per cent growth last year.
“Improving the end-to-end mortgage journey has to be a major focus for all of us as outside disruptors look in on our market with interest,” he added.
