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Mainstream media and mortgage experts

ended 06. February 2023

When writing mortgage or equity release stories, a lot of mainstream media regularly quote non-qualified ‘experts’, in many cases former personal finance journalists or internal comms spokespeople who haven't arranged a mortgage in their lives. Often, these experts aren't even in mortgage firms but are simply spokespeople of corporate FS companies who hijack every news story going. What are your views on this? Should mortgage/equity release articles in print and online (broadcast is another story!) only feature quotes from qualified mortgage and equity release professionals?

8 responses from the Newspage community

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Vishal Vyas
Independent Mortgage Adviser at Private Finance
I feel that there needs to be more representation from active brokers and financial service business owners, to make up a good mixture of representatives who are commenting on developments and those who are up to date on the industry, trends and new developments, so they can succinctly share with the public, both the positives and negatives and more importantly, share tangible solutions to help alleviate fear.
There is space for spokespeople from corporate financial services companies but their views should be mixed with everyday advisers and smaller local companies, to give a true reflection of the marketplace at the time and not just indicators and opinions purely based on high-level figures.
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Imran Hussain
Director at Harmony Financial Services
100% it's like asking your mate down the pub to comment on a subject they have absolutely no knowledge about, and just shows lazy journalism...
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Justin Moy
Managing Director at EHF Mortgages
I think any communication that is 'advice' or close to it, should be from those regulated by its market, else they should abstain. I have the same issue with printed articles in the daily newspapers, with quotes about products and types of mortgages banded about without a blink of an eye, yet when a qualified adviser attempts to do the same, the compliance police are stopping us from having a voice. Perhaps the FCA should 'regulate' the communication as a whole, and that will stop those not under it's jurisdiction.
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Nicola Schutrups
Managing Director at The Mortgage Hut / William James Wealth Management
The mortgage market is a fast-moving industry with ever-changing policies and criteria. Historically you've had "technical directors" and "head of policy" who do not advise on mortgages and spend most of their time having lunches and being wined and dined by third parties.

The Mortgage Hut services between 60-100 customer enquiries a day ranging from a wide and varied cross-section of society.

Journalists should indeed seek qualified and competent advisers and directors from the mortgage industry, however, the risk with going with smaller firms is also that they are commenting on a very small data pool of single to double-digit mortgage numbers, alot of the time in very geographically specific areas.
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Gary Bush
Financial Adviser at MortgageShop.com
A controversial topic at the moment amongst qualified and experienced financial advisers - should journalists with no qualifications or indeed more importantly, in my opinion, having no "at the coalface" experience be allowed to write pieces on complicated financial scenarios? My answer is no I don't think any media organisations should be allowed to employ or contract anyone without experience and qualification to provide what could be construed as "giving advice"! The markets over the past 3 decades have grown ever more complex and only valid spokespeople should be allowed to make comments to the general public at such an important time.
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Joe Eden
Four Financial at Hortons Valuers Ltd
The mortgage market is a highly reactive industry and it's essential that the information presented is accurate, relevant, and trustworthy. Inaccurate information or misleading advice from unqualified individuals can lead to misguided decision-making and negative consequences for the reader.

Given the frequency with which housing ministers change, it's essential that the narrative in the press remains consistent and well-informed. With new ministers often having little or no housing experience, it becomes even more critical to have a reliable source of information for the public.

This is why it's important for articles related to mortgages and equity release to feature quotes and insights from qualified and knowledgeable professionals in the field.
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Scott Taylor-Barr
Principal Adviser at Barnsdale Financial Management
Journalists, by their very nature, report on and opine across a broad range of topics. They write about healthcare or legal issues, politics, military matters and more, without having any qualifications or experience in any of those areas, nor would we necessarily expect them to. However, in all these areas they tend to report on the facts and have experts support the technical parts of the report. The same applies to reporting on people's financial affairs; we would all expect journalists to report on the latest news, like the recent increase in the base rate, but we wouldn't expect them to tell people they "should rush out and secure a 10-year fixed rate straight away", because that has overstepped the mark from reporting on the news to giving advice; a 10-year fixed rate may be ideal for some, but a poor choice for many.
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Gareth Davies
Director at South Coast Mortgage Services
The mortgage industry is ever-changing, with criteria, rates and trends continuously moving. You need to speak to people on the frontline, those that speak to the consumer, those that experience the thoughts, fears and opinions of the general public at a time like this especially. Equity Release in particular is a totally different animal compared to the past, and many, many pre-conceived ideas about it are simply outdated.