The Intermediary – February 2026 - Flipbook - Page 23
T H E I N T E RV I E W
BDLA
still delivering the best possible outcomes for
end-consumers.
Fighting fraud
Alongside regulation, fraud prevention sits
firmly at the top of Tyler’s agenda, noting this
as one of the most important services the
association can provide.
He explains: “We run a fraud initiative in
partnership with Synectics Solutions, the
provider of the SIRA platform – a national fraud
prevention database used by high street banks
and leading companies to identify fraudulent
transactions. Through the SIRA platform,
financial institutions can share and analyse
information about suspected fraud, making
it much easier to detect and prevent criminal
activity. We now have a scheme specifically
for bridging lenders that’s run through us
at the BDLA.”
For Tyler, the power of the initiative lies in
collective participation. In his view, that shared
intelligence protects not just individual firms,
but the integrity of the entire funding chain
that sits above them.
He says: “It’s about getting more and more
members involved – and the more people feed
into that fraud initiative, the better information
we’ve got out there to actually combat it.”
The CPSP framework
Tyler also sees education as a key pillar of the
BDLA. The association plays a leading role in
the Level 3 Certified Practitioner in Specialist
Property Finance (CPSP) qualification,
developed in partnership with other trade
bodies such as FIBA.
The programme is designed not only for
brokers wanting to get involved in bridging,
but also for people working within lenders who
are new to the sector. Tyler explains: “You’ve
got people who are joining a bridging company
who don’t understand what bridging looks
like, or how it fits in with other lending sectors.
Quality education helps with that.”
He adds: “Education like this helps new
entrants to the industry, as well as those
changing roles within it, to see how everything
connects and fits together.”
As testament to this, more than 1,600 people
have either completed or are currently enrolled
on CPSP to date.
However, Tyler was quick to note that the
programme is not just intended for brokers
who want to move into bridging, but also for
existing industry staff working within lenders
– such as underwriters, sales teams and
operations people – who need a structured
introduction to how bridging works and how it
interacts with buy-to-let (BTL), residential and
commercial mortgages.
For Tyler, education is what ties everything
together: standards, customer outcomes,
regulatory expectations and product design. It
is a key lever in making sure the sector grows
sustainably and responsibly.
Shared market intelligence
Another area where Tyler believes the BDLA
adds unique value is in promoting increased
market collaboration.
To support this mission, regular meetings,
roundtables and working groups are offered
by the association, in a bid to give lenders the
chance to share experiences and sense-check
their read of the economy.
For Tyler, this kind of shared intelligence is
invaluable. He says: “If you get those shared
experiences between a group […] you’re
learning from them. No single firm can see the
entire market in isolation, but an association
can aggregate insight across a broad
cross-section of lenders.
“For brokers, that ultimately translates
into a more informed, and better-calibrated,
funding environment.”
Market conditions
When assessing this current market
environment, especially that of development
finance, Tyler takes a nuanced view.
Construction costs, he says, “have settled
down,” which removes at least one source
of volatility from project planning. However,
he adds that developers still face two major
confidence tests, those being the belief in their
exit, and ongoing trust in their funders.
He explains: “The issue is the confidence
of the property developers. How confident
are they, if they’re going to build houses, that
their exit is to sell those, and put them into
buy-to-let? At the same time, they must be
confident in the stability and credibility of the
lenders backing them.”
Tyler argues that if a lender is part of the
association, subject to its Code of Practice and
peer scrutiny, a developer “can see that they
have to comply with a certain way of working,”
and can therefore be more comfortable
borrowing from them.
Supporting housing delivery
Where the BDLA cannot directly influence
outcomes, however, is in the wider housing
market. Nevertheless, Tyler highlights the role
of alternative exits – such as development →
February 2026 | The Intermediary
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