It is just over three years since the first Covid lockdown. As the country was told, ‘Stay at home,’ the mortgage market, along with many other sectors, was forced into new ways of working. Teams and Zoom software became part of everyday life and the restrictions marked a turning point in the sector’s use of technology.
For some, there is no going back to the old ways. For others, the remote-working novelty has worn off, with a sense among brokers that lenders’ service is suffering as a result.
So, while it may have been out with the old and in with the new, has this momentous change to working patterns done the mortgage market any good?
Improved work culture
“The biggest and most positive change [since Covid] has been a shift en masse to accept home working and video appointments,” says Peak Mortgages and Protection managing director Rhys Schofield.
“Being able to work flexibly means being a mortgage broker is a brilliant career to juggle around other commitments, like childcare. On top of that, having the option as a client to do an appointment from your own home is so convenient.
Clients are choosing face-to-face meetings as their preference
“I don’t see us going back to purely in-person work again.”
Virtual meetings have also aided productivity, some believe.
“I used to drive around 25,000 miles a year, going between offices and seeing clients in their homes,” explains Carl Summers Financial Services financial adviser Scott Taylor-Barr.
“Now we meet virtually and my mileage for the past couple of years has been under 5,000, which is a massive difference.
“As well as being more time efficient, it is better for my work/life balance.
“[Previously,] I’d regularly be getting home after 10pm,” he adds.
I’ve noticed a decrease in the accuracy of some information from lenders
For most firms — including lenders — a hybrid model of working has been adopted, offering the best of both worlds.
“Most people are splitting their week: three days in the office, two at home,” says Fleet Mortgages chief commercial officer Steve Cox.
“Having people in the office for at least three days a week helps in terms of building stronger teams, getting to know the people you work with and having that sense of belonging and culture within the workplace.”
While previously most of its meetings were carried out face to face, the firm now offers a varied approach.
“We interact with advisers in the way they want to interact with us,” says Cox, “whether that is phonecalls, email, Zoom/Teams, face-to-face meetings, roadshows, conferences or socially. It definitely feels a lot more efficient, particularly in terms of initial meetings between the field team/BDMs [business development managers] and the adviser, as most want to do this first virtually, followed up by a face-to-face.”
Service levels can be hugely impacted because employees who are working from home can experience poor internet service from time to time
The initial challenges of lockdown meant those staff who were able to work became, in many respects, jacks-of-all-trades, adds Cox.
“During lockdown it was pretty much, ‘All hands to the pump,’ for our field team, which meant they were heavily involved in parts of the business that were not sales focused, such as underwriting or the completions department.
“They’ve been upskilled as a result and now know far more about these areas, which is undoubtedly useful information to impart to advisers,” he says.
House and Holiday Home Mortgages director and adviser Joe Stallard believes some lenders too still favour the digital approach when it comes to valuations.
Since Covid, some self-employed people have been looked down on by lenders
“We’ve noticed the number of lenders utilising automated valuation models,” he says. “This is brilliant and acts as rocket fuel under an application, improving the customer experience.”
Finding the balance
For all of the upsides, however, remote and even hybrid working are not favoured by all.
“Generally, we work in the office 95% of the time,” says PAB Wealth Management director Luke Thompson. “I prefer the buzz of the office to working on my own in my home office.”
When it comes to speaking with BDMs, he welcomes the return of face-to-face meetings.
Things simply appear to take longer with remote working
“Some BDMs have remained fully virtual and I feel that both advisers and BDMs miss out on building a rapport when this happens.”
Alicia McAloon, head of people at LiveMore Mortgages, specialist in loans for the over-50s, explains that, although colleagues divide their working time between office and home, the firm welcomes the return of the office culture.
“A consistent office presence has been a welcome change since Covid. We have missed those ‘watercooler moments’ and asking for things across the desk; it’s great for building business and personal relationships,” she says.
All of the firm’s BDMs carry out face-to-face meetings, she adds, and virtual is the exception.
The Mortgage Stop managing director Rita Kohli finds the appetite for face-to-face visits has increased, from both clients and lender BDMs, over the past six months.
“Although BDMs are coming out to visit again, it still feels very difficult to speak to lenders when you need to talk about a case. Chat is a nightmare, with agents often sitting offshore following scripts with no understanding of the mortgage industry in the UK,” she explains.
Some BDMs have remained fully virtual and I feel that both advisers and BDMs miss out on building a rapport when this happens
As for clients, in-person meetings prove more beneficial.
“Clients are choosing face-to-face as their preference and we’ve seen more referrals off the back of it,” adds Kohli.
Slipping lender service
Brokers feel some lenders’ service has suffered as a result of remote working.
“Since Covid, I’ve noticed a decrease in the accuracy of some information from lenders,” says R3 Mortgages director Riz Malik.
“It is not uncommon to call the lender again after speaking with someone, talk with someone else and receive a completely different response.
“This would not be an issue if everyone was back in the office, working together. Being in the same room with more experienced employees would benefit new recruits in particular. People learn by being in the same environment.
We’ve noticed the number of lenders utilising AVMs. This is brilliant and acts as rocket fuel under an application
“Things simply appear to take longer [with remote working],” he adds.
Trinity Finance adviser Amit Patel says the average waiting time to speak to someone for a case update or a policy query has become longer since Covid.
“Companies are now adopting a hybrid model. Service levels can be hugely impacted because employees who are working from home can experience poor internet service from time to time,” he says.
Borrower groups
In addition to poorer service, some brokers believe lenders’ approach to certain borrower groups has suffered.
We interact with advisers in the way they want to interact with us
Mortgages For Actors founder Austyn Johnson says lenders have been harder on the self-employed since the pandemic.
Johnson specialises in mortgages for those who work in entertainment and the performing arts — a cohort of borrowers hit hard by the lockdowns.
“Lenders need to see a lot more current trading figures and are only using the tax documents as a basic affordability check, which changes when they assess,” says Johnson.
Some actors, he says, earn 90% of their annual income in December and 10% during the rest of the year, which skews the figures. Certain Netflix employees, meanwhile, are paid a single lump sum and then have to work the rest of the year to retain that cash, which lenders can struggle with.
Having people in the office for at least three days a week helps in terms of building stronger teams
“If, for example, you worked from January to September and got paid so much you took some time off over Christmas, if you then started looking for a house in January or February, mainstream lenders would not consider you due to a lack of income showing on your bank statements,” explains Johnson.
“If lenders would stop trying to streamline processes, they would be able to spend a bit more time understanding how self-employed clients got paid,” he adds.
“Since Covid, some self-employed people have been looked down on by lenders. But things are starting to get back to normal.”
Working on it
Most would agree that some of the changes brought about by lockdown have benefited the mortgage industry — notably the wider adoption of technology, a more flexible working culture and the option of virtual meetings.
From brokers’ perspective, this may be good for clients but less so in the impact on some lenders’ service.
I don’t see us going back to purely in-person work. I used to drive 25,000 miles a year
That problem may increase as lenders expand their workforce again, with new recruits, working at least partly at home, potentially lacking the learning-on-the-job element. We may see some lenders reassess this new way of working, especially if it results in less productivity and less effective lending decisions.
Lockdown may seem a distant memory but the mortgage industry, like many other sectors, is still working out which parts to keep and which to discard as it defines its ‘new normal’.
This article featured in the April 2023 edition of MS.
If you would like to subscribe to the monthly print or digital magazine, please click here.
