The Intermediary – December 2025 - Flipbook - Page 5
From the editor. . .
etween the latest Budget, shiing
lender appetites, surprise data
drops and the ongoing national
debate over whether anyone will
ever understand EPCs, this year
has felt less like an economic
cycle and more like a long-running drama series
– with the mortgage industry playing all the lead
roles and doing all its own stunts.
Sadly, it’s not a very well wrien show. Even
as someone who enjoys my fair share of schlock,
I’m geing a bit sick of the melodramatic
highs – like the thrill of hunting down a leaked
document – being followed by damp squib plot
twists and open-ended stories with frustrating
conclusions. “Tune in next time to find out
if our plucky heroes make it to their final
housebuilding targets in the nick of time!” The
suspense doesn’t exactly have me hooked.
Case in point, buyers, landlords, lenders and
brokers waited with bated breath for a season
finale Budget belter that ultimately le everyone
wanting more.
There are reasons to keep tuning in, though.
A cast of side and supporting characters that
keep us hooked with their grit, creativity and
innovation, even when the central storylines
have truly jumped the shark.
The themes will likely be familiar next season:
resilience, reinvention, creativity. Buy-to-let
will be pressured by tax policy, regulation and
rental realities, yet landlords will find ways to
adapt. Residential borrowers will keep cautiously
B
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emerging from rate shock, even if the dream
of a sub-3% fix still feels like folklore. And
specialist finance? It will remain the market’s
pressure valve, quietly absorbing everything the
mainstream can’t or won’t do, while inventing
the occasional product category just to keep life
interesting and the viewers hooked.
What has genuinely stood out this year, as
I find myself saying quite oen these days, is
the intermediary community’s ability to pivot
without losing their sense of humour, or their
trademark grit.
Competition is picking up, pricing is edging in
the right direction (most days), and innovation
is filtering through every corner of the market.
The pace is uneven, but the direction is
unmistakable.
At Astor Media, this year saw us go from a
small cast arthouse drama to a blockbuster with
multiple spin-offs – and we couldn’t be more
excited for our next stage of development.
So, as we head into the ‘Christmas Special’ part
of the 2025 season, I don’t think it’s too off-script
to gather round the proverbial hearth – chestnuts
roasting, and all that – for a toast to a year well
survived. Now that I’ve well and truly laboured
the metaphor, I’ll leave you with this message:
from our team to yours, well done, merry
Christmas, a happy new year, and we’ll see you
on the other side. ●
Jessica Bird
@jess_jbird
@IntermediaryUK
Contributors
The Team
www.facebook.com/IntermediaryUK
OPINION Insights from
Barclays, Investec, Together,
IMLA, OPDA and more
INTERVIEW Adam
Butler on SME lending and
Avamore’s ongoing evolution
RAPID REACTION The
experts weigh in as the dust
settles post-Budget
The
Intermediary.
ry.
www.theintermediary.co.uk | Issue 35 | December 2025 | £6
Jessica Bird . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Managing Editor
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Reflecting on a year of reform and recalibration
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