The research also found that most advisers (94%) were positive specifically about the outlook for the intermediary-led mortgage market, while 97% were also confident about future prospects for their own business.
Kate Davies, Executive Director of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association, said: “The last few years have certainly tested the resilience of the mortgage market. Amidst significant political turbulence, intermediaries have faced the challenge of disintermediation, diminishing consumer confidence and uncertainty surrounding what may replace the Help to Buy scheme as it is gradually wound down. Despite that, they ended last year on a high with a significant proportion expressing their positivity towards the sector’s future and having helped many more onto and up the property ladder.
“It’s clear there will be challenges ahead in 2020. The FCA’s recent changes to execution-only sales and the punitive tax changes on buy-to-let landlords will continue to change the shape of the market. However, it would appear that the new government has helped to boost consumer confidence and IMLA has predicted gross mortgage lending will rise to £268 billion this year, 1.4% ahead of last year.”
