Product access boosts confidence
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A boost in lending and access to products has led to an improvement in intermediary confidence for 2011, says Platform.
Its latest Index of Mortgage Intermediaries shows in Q4 2010 35% more brokers saw an increase in the volume of mortgage business written, up from 28% in Q3 2010.
Nearly half of intermediaries - 40% - believe the remortgage market is the area with the most opportunity in 2011 while nearly one-third - 28% - have high hopes for the buy-to-let sector.
Mike Fitzgerald, sales director at the Emba Group, says even though there is less business than a few years ago there are fewer brokers so he is confident about 2011.
He says: “Every day we are seeing slight improvements in buy-to-let products from certain lenders and this is helping.
“Borrowers are also realising they need to come to brokers for quality advice that they can’t find in bank or building society branches.”
Lee Gladwell, business development director at Platform, says: “With more consumers than ever seeking mortgage advice, 2011 is a year of opportunity for the intermediary industry but the sector as a whole needs to work together to make this opportunity a reality.”
Platform will launch a fresh range of residential and buy-to-let products today. These new deals include one-year fixed rates starting from 3.49%, two-year fixes from 3.89%, and four-year fixes from 4.49%. It also has a one-year tracker with a starting rate of 2.89%.
The company has also increased the number of properties a landlord can have in their portfolio from five to 10.
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