How can brokers get on the front foot when it comes to promoting mortgage advice?

And if you believe that you’ll believe anything – but we can hope, can’t we?

One of the issues that clearly needs addressing is the current state of the UK housing market which – like most other areas – might feel neglected given the current all-encompassing Brexit environment that we have.

As mentioned, whether we do find a way out of the box marked ‘Brexit’ will probably determine how much focus is placed on some key housing-related issues, not least increasing the supply of new homes, addressing mortgage affordability issues particularly around ‘mortgage prisoners’, improving purchase activity, what happens next with Government schemes such as ‘Help to Buy’, building on green belt land, the future of the private rental sector and the continued impact on landlords, etc.

All are key to whether we can develop a fit for purpose UK housing market and whether we can somehow bridge a housing gap which – according to recent research from the Close Brothers Financial Wellbeing Index – suggests that 47% of all working adults believe they’ll never be able to get on the housing ladder. This, despite the fact, that purchasing a home remains an aspiration for 65% of non-homeowners.

Bridging that, rather large, gap between aspiration and reality is going to have to be an ongoing priority for whoever the next PM is, and the entire Government as a whole, because I suspect that – even with a very first-time buyer focused agenda over the past few years – that gap has perhaps never been so big.

Rather worryingly as well, this latest Index, seems to suggest that many people have little understanding of where they should actually start when wanting to purchase, and no doubt the advisory profession has some work to do in this area because it’s clear that, unless we can set out the financial targets that have to be met and how these individuals might go about doing that, getting on the ladder is going to be a non-starter for many people.

There has been much talk recently about whether advisory firms are good at selling their services and educating the wider public about what they can offer and the benefits of it. When we hear so much about execution-only, the last thing we want is for individuals – especially first-time buyers – to attempt to ‘go it alone’ because they think they might have seen a product which seems cheap or might meet their needs.

And yet recent L&G research said that 31% of those borrowers who went direct to a lender didn’t know how an adviser could help them with their search. A staggering 34% thought the adviser was there to support the lender. Talk about the right messages not getting through.

We all know of the increasing complexity within the first-time buyer sector, in terms of the various schemes that are available, not forgetting the various ways first-timers can actually secure the finance they need. It seems to be a timely point to mention that the very cheapest mortgage product might, in no way, be right for them and the likelihood is that they won’t have the necessary deposit to secure it anyway.

I keep hearing calls for the industry to get on the front foot when it comes to promoting mortgage advice and outlining just how open for business the market is. Even, for first-time buyers – and we would be the first to say that we need more high LTV products and lending appetite in this area – we have seen an increase in product offerings and there are more options available than just six-12 months ago. But, who will take up this mantle and educate consumers about how they go about purchasing that first property, and where should they go for quality advice?

There’s no doubt a gap in the market for this, especially at a time of great uncertainty and when we have – certainly for mortgages – a community of advisers who can deliver that certainty in spades. With all the ‘Brexit’ noise this might be a message that is being ignored – clearly many of those who want to buy aren’t sure what to do, and there’s no doubting that going to an adviser should be the first port of call to set them on the right track. We need an educator in this space otherwise those potential homeowners are not going to turn that ambition into a reality.