72% of brokers say the specialist mortgage market presents a greater opportunity than ever before 

The higher inflationary environment appears to have pushed more consumers into the specialist mortgage sector, with 1 in 5 brokers now concentrating solely on servicing customers who fall into the specialist category, according to new research from United Trust Bank Mortgages.

60% of brokers who took part in the research said that they had written more specialist mortgage cases in the last 12 months as a proportion of their business than they did in the previous year. 17% indicated that more than half of their cases now required a specialist lender.

81% of brokers said they are seeing more customers with financial blips/adverse credit including defaults and CCJs and 87% said customers who come to them have usually been turned away by mainstream lenders or other brokers.

As a result, 72% of brokers believe the specialist market now presents a bigger opportunity than ever before and 81% believe that helping customers with adverse credit is the biggest area of opportunity for brokers in the specialist sector.

Buster Tolfree, director of mortgages at United Trust Bank, commented: “This report illustrates just how much the specialist mortgage market has evolved in such a short period, albeit with significant economic factors pushing it along.

“Specialist mortgage lending has certainly increased in importance, and its place in the market is only going to grow. For many customers it will be their only route to reaching their property-owning aspirations. Particularly as mainstream lenders are more frequently unable or unwilling to serve borrowers with more complex needs. 

“The lender community can do more to help brokers recognise and then take full advantage of the opportunities the specialist lending market has to offer, and my colleagues and I at UTB are committed to doing just that, recognising that we achieve more if we work together and that united, we go further.

“A huge thank you to Jeff Knight for undertaking the research and to the brokers and industry experts who gave up their valuable time to share their valued opinions and insight. We really appreciate it.”