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Mortgage brokers - what have been the biggest lessons of 2022?

Journalist: John Fitzsimons, Freelance

ended 20. December 2022

Merry Christmas brokers!

Putting together a piece on the biggest lessons brokers are taking from the last 12 months, which haven't exactly been quiet. Have they been new lessons, or something that has been reinforced by what's happened over the year?

Any and all thoughts very welcome

8 responses from the Newspage community

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Riz Malik
Independent Financial Adviser at R3 Wealth
The broker community is not to be messed with, and we are the voices of our clients, as this year has shown. The shenanigans at the end of September brought this into focus. Brokers banded together and did everything in our power to draw attention to the terrible effect that the government's actions were having on the mortgage market and our clients. Although we cannot claim victory, we now have a new Chancellor and Prime Minister.
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Justin Moy
Managing Director at EHF Mortgages
Being resilient in challenging times! Not undervaluing the support we each provide to clients and those around us in the broker community. Being a Mortgage adviser is not just about selling mortgages, but creating & maintaining relationships with those who have come to rely upon your expertise and judgement. Those are clients who will be so appreciative and will need support, plus those you work with will also feed off that. It can be a nervous and difficult time for us all, so don't underestimate that opportunity.
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Craig Fish
Director at Lodestone Mortgages
As the Scout's motto states, always be prepared. This year has clearly shown that anything can happen, especially when politicians are involved in making big decisions, and that you should always be prepared for the unexpected. I've also learned that the free legals service available from lenders is something that should be avoided at all costs. Also don't trust the mainstream media, they never tell the real story, but I guess that's old news.
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Mike Staton
Director at Staton Mortgages
What's the difference between Andrew Bailey and Scrooge? One is anti-Christmas, doesn't care about families' well being and is happy to push more families into poverty whilst he counts his juicy pay cheque. The other is a character in a Charles Dickens Novel. The biggest lesson I am taking away from 2022 is to not try and predict what is going to happen to this industry. If ever there was a lesson to the public to take professional mortgage advice instead of doing a mortgage by yourself, 2022 has provided it.
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Imran Hussain
Director at Harmony Financial Services
The biggest lesson is that the market takes no prisoners rates, and terms can change at the drop of a hat the current government is partly to blame now for the mess we have, so there is no time to rest on your laurels and always be prepared for unexpected changes during the house-buying process.
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Scott Taylor-Barr
Principal Adviser at Barnsdale Financial Management
The biggest lesson, reinforced from the past few years, is that just when you feel you have got a handle on things, just as you think you can see a patch of smooth sailing ahead, someone (usually, but not always, a politician) will come along and muck it up, and quite royally. More importantly, I've been reminded of the value of the advice we provide to our clients, helping them to adjust as best they can to the new reality of higher rates and guiding them through the maze of options available in the mortgage world as a whole.
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Graham Cox
Director at Bridging Hub
The biggest lesson I've taken away is to ignore vested interests who continue to talk the market up, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary that house prices are falling steeply and will continue to do so throughout 2023. This will be good news for most people, and certainly better for the UK economy in the long run. But we need to learn the lessons of this folly, and prevent a return to the absurd house price growth we've seen over the past two decades.
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David Robinson
Co-Founder at Wildcat Law
Some people never learn. Whilst record low rates of interest were never going to last, many had stopped talking about "abnormally low rates" and instead had accepted them as the norm. That was never going to end well and so has been the tale of 2022. Stress testing had been in place for a very good reason and we are by no means out of the woods yet when it comes to interest rate rises. When it comes to interest rates, what goes down, must go up.