Alan Cleary, Exact
I think the main reason for seeing A&L top this table is more to do with Santander’s continued appetite for UK mortgages rather than a general trend of the broker market strengthening.
The key point is the same today as it was two to three years ago, in that lenders have a limited amount of capacity to do mortgages through their own branches and call centres.
When individual lenders’ appetite for volume exceeds their capacity they will lean off the intermediary market and vice versa when their appetite drops.
This is a really strong reason why it is imperative for there to be a healthy and functioning broker market. While A&L has no branches, its parent Santander has a choice as to whether it wants to distribute via its in-house capabilities or via intermediaries.
I would be pretty certain that Santander wants to strike a balance as it knows only too well that brokers will remember the lenders that have supported them through the lean times when volumes pick up.
I would love to say that the broker market is strengthening but there is no clear evidence that shows this yet. Gross lending is the key number that dictates how many brokers are required, and while this hovers at around £10-15bn a month, it will remain tough out there.
I think the first six months of this year will be more of the same but I am optimistic that the second half of 2010 will give brokers much more reason for optimism.
Simon Jones, Savills
It is great news to see Alliance & Leicester, part of the Santander Group, topping the rankings as most competitive lender in 2009 as revealed by Evaluate Technologies.
In terms of whether I believe that the market is on the turn and that lenders have decided that intermediaries are the way forward – not quite. However, it is really good to see this lender recognising the role that brokers can play in the market and helping provide the tools for them.
We are fortunate in the UK broking market that lenders generally support the intermediary channel, understanding that a strong percentage of consumers seek and value the service that we provide.
At the risk of being a little controversial, not every consumer seeks or needs advice. The sooner that we understand that the better, but saying that, it cannot be right that non-advised sales are portrayed as such when clearly an element of knowing your customer through fact finding has been carried out.
We need to be clear that where advice is required or offered, this is followed through correctly and the playing field is level for direct and intermediary channels.
There are still some lenders that do not fully recognise the role that intermediaries perform in the mortgage process. Some believe that all consumers will be happy to speak exclusively to tied branch advisers or self select. This clearly disenfranchises both the consumer and the lender and cannot be a good thing. I look forward to working closely with A&L in 2010.
David Sheppard, Perception Finance
The last quarter of 2009 revealed the first real sign that some of the lending jitters were starting to dissipate and we have started 2010 with even better news. Last year, both lending arms of Santander were good for brokers and it is my belief that they will continue to be so.
By topping the best buy tables and being a broker-only brand, they are clearly aware of how best to reach their target market share by combining their direct and intermediary access to markets. This is hopefully something other lenders will work on to everyone’s advantage.
During 2010, we need to see some of the other big names start to show the appetite to lend, especially the combined forces that make up the Lloyds Banking Group who were relatively quiet last year. We have already started to see a competitive edge return both in terms of residential but also now with the buy-to-let market.
With the return of Kensington, news of Virgin Money buying a company with a banking licence and Manchester Building Society showing hunger for more business, there is a real feeling that we are on the last stretch of the downturn now and by the end of this year, the market will be much healthier. From there, we all need to ensure that the market remains sustainable and sensible so that we do not go through this again.
This is the responsibility of everyone in the industry. We should all have learnt a valuable lesson from this but this is only worth something if we do not make the same mistakes in the future.
