Many lenders are having to increase their rates, and that trend looks set to continue over the coming week. For clients whose current deal is up for renewal in the next six months, this is the moment to act rather than wait.
Securing a rate now protects them from further increases, and it doesn’t close the door if things move the other way: brokers can still go back and secure a better rate for a client if pricing improves before completion.
It’s protection, not a gamble either way, and that’s worth spelling out clearly to clients who might assume locking in means losing flexibility.
There’s also been a lot of talk this week about the FCA’s ongoing mortgage rule consultations, and we should expect more of this as the year goes on. Interest-only is a good example: the FCA is looking at how it can be used more effectively to support today’s clients, rather than treating it as a niche option.
The later life space matters just as much here, with the FCA’s market study into lifetime and retirement interest-only mortgages continuing to gather evidence on how that sector needs to evolve.
What ties both together is a simple truth: the “everyday” client has changed. Whether we’re talking about first time buyers or home movers, the person in front of a broker today is far more likely to come with some sort of background, be that mild adverse credit, a less conventional income structure, or an age profile that wouldn’t have fitted neatly into the criteria of a decade ago. None of this is unusual anymore. It’s day-to-day business, and it needs to be treated that way.
That’s why this moment calls for the industry to work collectively. Brokers need to stay genuinely up-to-date with criteria changes as they land, not just aware that they’re happening, so they can act on behalf of clients whose circumstances would once have been considered too complex for mainstream lending.
Lenders, in turn, need to keep pace with a client base that looks meaningfully different to the one their existing rules were built around.
Between rates moving and regulation evolving, there’s a lot for brokers to stay on top of this week. But both threads point to the same opportunity: clients who need clear, proactive “advice, and an industry that’s ready to give it to them.
