Michael White, chief executive at Email Mortgages, said: “Lenders are in complete control of the market and can see the competition and demand that there is for products out there, which is why dual pricing is here to stay.”
Ian Andrew, Nationwide’s head of intermediary sales, said: “With the mortgage market smaller now than it has been in previous years, lenders are reviewing all their distribution channels.
“I believe that dual pricing among certain lenders is here to stay and that many brokers have already begun to incorporate this challenge into their advice to clients.”
He added that intermediaries remain a vital channel to Nationwide’s mortgage distribution strategy, with identical pricing for its core new business range across its channels.
White insisted that one of the biggest dangers of dual pricing was the quality of advice that borrowers receive.
He said: “As all advisers know, sourcing the most suitable mortgage is never just about price, there are other factors to consider which makes professional advice vital for all consumers.
“However, by continuing with a dual pricing policy in these circumstances, lenders are in danger of creating an advice vacuum, which is having a hugely damaging effect on the intermediary sector.”
Brian Bird, mortgage consultant at mortgages-online, said that dual pricing has worn some brokers down, but helped others open up their business model.
He said: “There are still some brokers who can’t deal with the idea of lenders dual pricing and those are the ones who are gradually falling out of the market.
“But there are loads of business savvy brokers who are opening up their business model to other areas of the market and using their years of experience to serve them well, even though they have to suffer the pain of lenders dual pricing.”
