Opinions & blogs

Expect the year to continue to not be ‘normal’

In any ‘normal’ year, the end of the first quarter might well provide us...

Portfolio landlords don’t need to be taxing

For those doing their tax returns early in the year, I am sure you...

Make use of all the external resources in the market

We all pride ourselves on being experts in the mortgage market and the idea...

Why Help to Buy remains invaluable

The Help to Buy scheme continues to grab the headlines, mainly for the right...

Parallels with Brexit

As I write this, no-one knows what the outcome of Brexit will be. MPs are...

Change your thinking to open up new opportunities

If one door shuts, then another one opens. I was reminded of this piece...

Provide financial certainty in this period of uncertainty

Given that we’re only two months into 2019, I wouldn’t normally want to focus...

Overcoming the mortgage Catch-22s

A friend of mine is prone to occasionally trying his hand at stand-up comedy. One...

We need to ease the reliance upon the Bank of Mum and Dad

When you look at the first-time buyer market in the UK at present, you...

Most commercial finance providers are moving in the right direction

Businesses of all shapes and sizes have had to take a long hard look...

Will a deal get done?

Shall we talk Brexit? I can hear the groans across the land as you...

Choppy waters ahead?

2019 I hope has begun for you in busy fashion. Certainly, talking to our...

The problems from playing catch-up

Defining types of borrowers in the mortgage market can be a tricky job, especially...

The importance of getting the Pensions Dashboard right

The responses to the Pensions Dashboard consultation and some of the subsequent social media...

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COMMENT

FS25/6 and the execution-only irony brokers can’t ignore

Reading FCA FS25/6, it is difficult not to notice an uncomfortable irony in the regulator’s conclusions around execution-only sales. The paper rightly raises concerns about...

Less Autumn Budget and more Autumn Bodgit

After months of fevered speculation before the Budget residential property transactions juddered to a halt. I always suspected that as ‘confidence arrives on foot and...

What the agents say: 2026 housing market predictions

Next year should be a year of steady progress for the housing market. After a challenging 2025 where we saw little to no house...

Graham McClelland on Britain’s broken mortgage market

When Graham McClelland, the youthful and quietly intense chief executive of Gen H, arrived at the City of London office of the fast-growing mortgage...

Younger consumers are ready for protection. So why aren’t we reaching them?

For years, the protection market has assumed that younger adults are less engaged with financial risk planning. Yet the latest findings from Bruised Britain...

Latest news

Affordability issues likely to intensify until 2027, lenders warn

Mortgage affordability is expected to become a more pressing issue by 2027, according to...

Rising house prices ‘pay for Christmas’ for most homeowners

Most UK homeowners have seen their property rise in value by more than the...

IMLA backs FCA roadmap on mortgage rule review

The Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) has described the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) Feedback...

Borrowers moved early as rate cut expectations built, Twenty7tec data shows

Mortgage search activity reached its highest level of the month on 9 December, nine...

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