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Product withdrawal notice periods

ended 13. March 2023

After giving brokers just 25 minutes' notice of rate changes last week, a Newspage broker alerted us to the fact that TSB appear to have learned from their mistake and, in a Friday product update, announced brokers would have until COB Monday to process applications. Following on from this, we asked brokers whether they would like to see all lenders adopt an industry-wide notice period of, say, 48 hours (or perhaps longer). The views of six are below.

5 responses from the Newspage community

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Craig Fish
Director at Lodestone Mortgages
Whilst I appreciate that lenders do sometimes need to make quick decisions in a fast-moving market, if the likes of Coventry Building Society can always manage to give 48 hours' notice, I fail to see why others can't. I think an industry standard should be mandatory, as this would at least enable brokers to manage clients' expectations and our diaries. Furthermore, this does highlight the importance of educating our clients to provide all relevant documentation when requested, rather than delay for days and then be disappointed when a rate has been withdrawn.
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James Vince
Managing Director at Castle View Finance
We continue to see a rollercoaster of notifications from lenders. After a short period of stability, it is still a shame that lenders cannot come to an industry standard to ensure clients can have the best chance of advice and recommendation. We see this in great effects in the specialist product ranges from lenders, where unregulated business can change quickly and inconsistently. With the likes of Coventry Building Society giving brokers a set period of notification, allowing business to be submitted and concluded in good time, it feels like a breath of fresh air in comparison.
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Riz Malik
Independent Financial Adviser at R3 Wealth
Coventry Building Society has a two-day notification requirement for product withdrawals, which all lenders should follow. Brokers have less stress as a result, and it is easier to manage your pipeline. As rates have tended to move downward in the past few months, we have been spoilt, but the tide may be changing.
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Joe Stallard
Director and Advisor at House and Holiday Home Mortgages
In an ideal world, it would be great to have more notice to get applications in when rates are going to change. 25 minutes was particularly challenging. However, it's part of life as a broker and provides us the opportunity to help guide clients through these big decisions. A client should never feel rushed into a decision, but they do need to understand that the mortgage market is constantly moving and rates cannot be secured until they give the go-ahead. With lenders having different funding models, I don't think an industry-wide notice period is ever something we'll see so instead we should control the things we can control and ensure our processes are up to scratch.
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Thomas Collier
Advising Director at Advantage Financial Solutions
We have to remember that lenders don’t like giving short notice periods. They don’t do it for fun. It’s also important to consider how lenders are funded. It’s considerably easier for a building society to give a good notice period than it is for a small tranche funded lender that must react very quickly to the movements in the market that funds them. That said, it’s deeply frustrating when some large banks give too little notice, this harks of a communication breakdown within the bank more often than not. Some lenders are notorious for mispricing their products, I have pretty much come to expect crazy withdrawal notice periods from a select few.