After the events of the past fortnight, with many lenders withdrawing products at very short notice, mortgage brokers have called for lenders to sign a pledge to provide a minimum notice period of 24 hours to all affiliated brokers.
Three mortgage brokers — Riz Malik, founder and director at R3 Mortgages, Jamie Lennox, director at Dimora Mortgages, and Lewis Shaw, owner and mortgage broker at Riverside Mortgages — have urged lenders to sign the pledge and UK newswire Newspage asked 12 intermediaries for their thoughts on this.
Adam Smith, founder of Alfa Mortgages, commented: “I would absolutely back this [minimum notice period]— it makes the industry more professional and puts the best interests of the clients front and centre, in line with consumer duty.”
Rohit Kohli, operations director at The Mortgage Stop, suggested: “A 24-hour minimum notice should be the norm and, ideally, a 48-hour notice should be considered best practice.”
This view is shared by Anil Mistry, director and mortgage broker at RNR Mortgage solutions, who added: “I have consistently expressed my admiration for Coventry Building Society's commendable implementation of a 48-hour notice period, which sets a standard that other lenders should strive to emulate.”
Joe Stallard, director and adviser at House and Holiday Home Mortgages, challenges this idea and said: “It would make our lives easier to have a minimum 24-hour notice, but what if it led to overly cautious pricing from lenders?
“The knock-on effects of that might disadvantage more customers than it helps; rocks and hard places come to mind.”
