The Mortgage Lender Benchmark, a bi-annual independent research study that helps lenders to understand what brokers really think about them and how they compare with other lenders, will be released in early June.
The study is run by Smart Money People, a financial services review and insight business.
As part of the wider report, 467 brokers shared their views about recovery periods. The data was collected from 8th April 2020 to 3rd May 2020.
Despite the Bank of England forecasting the worst recession in 300 years, 77% of brokers believe that mortgage lending will recover to pre COVID-19 levels within 9 months and 51% believe that this recovery will happen within 6 months.
Appointed representatives proved to be significantly more optimistic than directly authorised brokers, with 59% of appointed representatives predicting that lending levels will recover within six months, compared to just 37% of directly authorised brokers.
Michael Fotis, Managing Director of Smart Money People, said:
“Tentative steps are being taken to get the economy moving, and many lenders are talking loudly about their appetite to lend.
“That said, with job security likely to be a concern for many consumers, and predictions that house prices may decline by up to 13%, it’s really hard to see customer appetite for new mortgage lending returning until 2021 at the earliest.”
Brokers focused on the equity release market proved to be particularly sceptical of any V-shaped bounce back.
While 51% of all brokers completing the survey believe that lending levels will recover within 6 months, just 19% of equity release-focused brokers agreed.
28% of equity release-focused brokers predicted that lending levels would take more than 12 months to recover.
Sales: 01233 646411
Lettings: 01233 660077
1 Middle Row, Ashford, Kent, TN24 8SQ
© 2016 Gould Harrison Estate Agents All rights reserved. Estate Agency Websites Powered by 
