Mortgage Approvals Through Brokers On the Rise

A new report from the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) has found that over three quarters (76%) of first-time buyer mortgage applications made via mortgage brokers completed in the first quarter of 2018. This represents a considerable increase from less than half (48%) of mortgages that moved to completion in the first quarter of 2016, when the IMLA Mortgage Market Tracker began. The percentage of applications securing a mortgage offer increased over the same period – from 70% in 2016 to 90% in 2018 – while the percentage of mortgage offers completing has also gone up.

While this is good news for first-time buyers, the market is slightly more muted when it comes to homemovers – the number of homemovers making successful mortgage applications dropped from the final quarter of 2017 to the first quarter of 2018, from 77% to 74%. However, this is the first quarter-to-quarter drop in intermediary homemover mortgage approvals since the Tracker began in 2016; so it remains to be seen whether this reversal is a one-off blip or a sign of things to come.

Kate Davies, Executive Director of IMLA, said: “Rising levels of mortgage enquiries, applications and completions shows that first-time buyers remain interested, able and willing to get a foot on the property ladder, with this customer group performing better than any other in the mortgage market, both in the short-term and on an annual basis.

“As well as competitively priced and widely-available deals, many first-time buyers owe their success to initiatives such as the Help to Buy scheme, Lifetime ISAs and stamp duty relief. The government’s commitment to improving access to the housing ladder has gone some way to increasing our supply of new and affordable homes – for example, nearly half (43%) of new-build properties are currently a result of the Help to Buy scheme.”

The Advantages of Using an Unlimited Mortgage Broker

There can be a number of advantages in using an unlimited mortgage broker as opposed to approaching lenders directly for a mortgage. For a start, they have access to lenders and deals from across the UK mortgage market. That means not just the mainstream banks and building societies, but also smaller and more specialist lenders. They often also have access to special “broker only” mortgage deals that aren’t available directly on the high street.

When you choose to deal with a mortgage broker, you can be confident that you will be dealing with a qualified expert in the mortgage market who, crucially, has a duty of care to give you impartial advice and guidance on the mortgage that’s right for your circumstances. A broker will help you find the lender and deal that’s right for you and will then handle the mortgage application from beginning to end, acting as an intermediary between you and the lender to smooth out any bumps that may arise along the way.

Here at Just Mortgage Brokers we have many years of experience in helping customers secure the mortgage that’s right for them. A big part of that is understanding which lenders might be more or less likely to approve a certain type of mortgage applicant. If you’re looking for a mortgage but aren’t sure where to start, give us a call today to discuss how we can help.