Mortgage Soup fires the questions at Craig Hall, director of strategic partnerships at LSL Financial Services.

Mortgage Soup (MS): You’ve stepped into the director of strategic partnerships role at LSL Financial Services. What is your core focus in this position?

Craig Hall (CH): My team and I are responsible for the relationship management of our strategic partners, which consists of c.140 mortgage lender, protection and general insurance providers, conveyancing and master broker partners.

Our core focus includes maintaining a leading proposition for our advisers, in line with our product governance framework, and ensuring the products and services are aligned with our fair value assessments and target market.

We also play a key role in working in partnership with our partners to deliver our comprehensive events and education programme.

MS: How are lender relationships evolving in the current interest rate environment?

CH: Communication is key, particularly early communication of product withdrawals. We understand lenders are under significant pressure (both service and margin strain) with the constant changes in swap rates. However, advisers are at the ‘coal face’, dealing with customers and people’s lives. They are at times working late nights and early mornings to secure products before they are withdrawn, which can have a potential impact on mental health.

Huge credit therefore to the lenders that commit to providing at least 24 hours’ notice!

MS: What are lenders looking for from distribution partners in today’s market?

CH: Put simply, quality distribution. It is not just about volume. All lenders and providers are working with a mix of quality metrics and welcome our transparency, compliance oversight, and product governance.

We live in a world that is more susceptible to fraud and risk, heightening the need for collaboration, sharing intelligence, and ensuring we have the appropriate rigour and processes in place to protect all parties.

MS: You have extensive experience in the new homes sector: how would you describe current conditions in that market?

CH: Challenging! We have seen some positive moves from the Government with planning reform, but the housebuilding sector continues to face rising costs due to increasing legislation, regulation and inflation, along with a skills challenge due to an ageing workforce.

The sector continues to operate without any form of government-backed demand-led support, following the closure of the Help to Buy scheme in 2023 (Help to Buy Wales is due to close to applications on 30 September 2026).

The Home Builders Federation and housebuilders continue to lobby the government to bring back some form of demand-led support to help turn the tide on decreasing housebuilding volumes, and provide any chance of building the required c.300,000 homes per annum. Time will tell whether the government launches such a scheme.

MS: How important are housebuilder partnerships to LSL’s wider financial services strategy?

CH: Housebuilders are hugely important to the LSL Property Services Group and our wider ecosystem. Within the financial services division, our specialist new build mortgage advisers make up a significant share of the new build mortgage market.

e.surv Chartered Surveyors also supports several of the top 10 lenders through the provision of valuation and data services. Finally, within our estate agency division, we have LSL Land & New Homes, providing a full range of services to housebuilders and housing associations, plus a number of franchise partners that also operate in the sector.

MS: What role do networks like Primis and clubs such as TMA play in supporting brokers right now?

CH: We play a vital role in keeping our firms and advisers safe and operating within the regulations, including doing the heavy lifting of interpreting and implementing new regulation, Consumer Duty and product governance.

Financially sound and backed by our Group plc, we can continue to invest in technology, enabling our brokers to keep pace and serve their customers how they want, need and expect to be served. Finally, we provide ongoing education, business development and professional development to ensure our firms continue to thrive in this ever-changing economic climate.

MS: Having spent many years at Legal & General, how have you seen the distribution landscape change?

CH: We continue to see mergers and acquisitions within the lender and provider space. Over the next three to five years, we are likely to see an increase in the distribution landscape due to the continued need to invest in compliance, technology, data and people.

MS: What are brokers telling you they need most from lenders and partners at the moment?

CH: As mentioned earlier: timely communication from lenders about product withdrawals and, at times, a common-sense approach to changes made. They also tell us that clear, straightforward guidance makes it easier to manage customer conversations and maintain trust in an already complex environment.

Brokers are often under pressure to act swiftly in customers’ best interests, so partners that balance speed with clarity and practicality are likely to be those best placed to support them.

MS: Where do you see the biggest growth opportunities across financial services distribution?

CH: We have seen product transfer become a larger part of the market over recent years – however, the intermediary share remains around 50 per cent of PT business. When advisers work so hard to secure a new customer, maintaining an ongoing relationship and contact strategy is crucial to demonstrating value and securing renewal or repeat business.

This is particularly important this year and next due to the sheer volume of mortgage product maturities. These will see some customers experiencing a payment shock (having taken out a five-year fixed in 2021 when interest rates were ultra-low) and others seeing a reduction in their monthly payment.

With every customer interaction, we cannot forget the importance of protection and addressing the ongoing ‘protection gap’. This remains a key focus for Primis and TMA Club.

MS: What is your outlook for the mortgage and housing market for the remainder of 2026?

CH: We started the year strongly in part due to pent up demand from H2 2025. Many customers likely held off making a homebuying decision while awaiting the outcome of the Autumn Budget. We then saw volumes spike following the Iran war, as advisers sought to secure mortgage products for their customers before the rate hikes took effect.

With global uncertainty continuing to send shock waves across the economy, and in turn swap rates and mortgage pricing, it is difficult to provide any forecasts – we just need to take it one day at a time. We do know there is plenty of demand out there, but timing is crucial.

Therefore, independent professional advisers continue to demonstrate their value in this increasingly complex environment, as well as in meeting the needs of individual customers.