The Intermediary – January 2026 - Flipbook - Page 10
RESIDENTIAL
Opinion
New property data
is reshaping
lending decisions
F
or years, property data
in the mortgage market
has been something
of a paradox. Lenders
have always needed it,
surveyors have always
produced it, and brokers have always
been affected by it. But much of the
most powerful insight has historically
arrived late in the process, oen aer
a case is already emotionally and
financially commied.
The rapid evolution of specialist
data products like our own around
cladding, construction risk and
complex property types signal
a very different future where
property intelligence plays a central,
proactive and real-time role in
lending decisions.
I feel what we have achieved with
our cladding and non-traditional
housing datasets is more than a
commercial success story. It is a
glimpse into how the mortgage
industry’s relationship with property
risk is changing and this will bring
about meaningful change for lenders,
brokers and consumers.
The industry has long relied
on traditional valuation reports
to identify risks around cladding
systems, structural materials and
forms of construction that fall outside
standard appetite.
But this approach has constraints,
not least because it is manual, caseby-case and dependent on the timing
of the physical inspection. The new
generation of data products changes
that dynamic.
Our datasets capture known
cladding risks, construction
classifications and historical
valuation outcomes across large
portfolios, creating a form of property
intelligence that lenders can query
instantly. Instead of waiting for a
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The Intermediary | January 2026
valuer to identify a potential cladding
concern or non-traditional build on a
specific case, lenders can understand
the risk profile before issuing making
a decision, and increasingly before a
full underwriting review.
One of the most powerful
implications of these new datasets
is that lenders can look beyond the
four walls of a single property and see
paerns across their entire portfolio.
If lenders can understand not only
the risk of this flat, but their exposure
to all flats with similar characteristics,
they gain a far more accurate view
of balance-sheet resilience. They
can moderate or increase appetite in
real time, avoid over-concentration
and make strategic decisions based
on actual, rather than assumed, risk
distribution.
Increased clarity
What this means for brokers is
earlier certainty and fewer surprises.
While technology-led changes in
lender decisioning sometimes feel
like a black box, the growth of these
property intelligence tools has the
potential to bring the opposite more
clarity, not less.
As lenders integrate new datasets
into their pre-application or earlystage checks, brokers could receive
earlier signals about which property
types are unlikely to be accepted,
where appetite is tightening due to
portfolio exposure or which risks are
emerging across the market.
In a world where data moves
upstream, decisions move with it. This
reduces the risk of late-stage declines,
reworked applications and consumer
frustration. It also allows brokers to
guide clients with more confidence at
the earliest stages of the journey.
Mortgage underwriting has
traditionally been governed by
STEVE GOODALL
is managing director at e.surv
The industry has
long relied on traditional
valuation reports to
identify risks [...] but this
approach has constraints”
static rules and criteria documents
updated periodically. But property
risk is dynamic. Housing ages, and
occupants’ needs change. Construction
methods evolve, cladding issues
emerge, remediation programmes
progress, and the performance of
non-traditional housing types varies
over time.
The evolution of our data products
shows that the future of mortgage
lending will be defined not solely by
digital identity, income verification
or automation, but by a deeper
understanding of the asset securing
the loan.
I believe that property data will
become broader, deeper and more
interconnected and that lenders will
make decisions earlier using richer
insight. This means that brokers will
navigate lenders with greater foresight
and underwriting will become more
dynamic and portfolio-aware.
As property risk becomes more
transparent, the entire mortgage
value chain – from lenders to brokers
to surveyors will operate with greater
clarity, fewer surprises and more
informed decision-making. The beer
we understand the homes we lend
against, the beer outcomes we create
for consumers. ●
