The survey showed that 20% of brokers have placed more than five such cases in the last quarter, with 8% placing between three and five sub-prime cases and 12% placing one to three cases.
Nevertheless, 60% of brokers have placed no mortgages for clients with satisfied debts in the last three months.
Dale Jannels, managing director of AToM, said: “Sub prime, or whatever you want to call it, is the fastest growing part of the market. We get 30 to 40 enquiries a day from brokers with clients who have historical credit issues for whatever reason.”
He said some brokers are avoiding cases from clients who have some kind of adverse credit history in the mistaken belief that they will take much longer to sort out or be tougher to place.
Jannels said: “They are exactly the same as non-adverse cases, it’s just some lenders will do more intensive underwriting. There are a lot of people out there with blips who need help; it’s a potentially huge sector and lenders are coming back into the market. Sub-prime shouldn’t be seen as a dirty word.”
