The Intermediary – January 2026 - Flipbook - Page 25
S TAT E O F T H E N AT I O N
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lower rate will be a great thing to do. In terms of
market trends, falling rates are positive, but there
are mixed signals. We’ve heard reports of house
prices stagnating or coming down slightly, which
Alistair Ewing
Managing director, The Lending Channel
Perth
could impact loan-to-value ratios and new-build
2025 was a massive year
sales.
for us - our best in 15
However, this creates a natural trade-off, as
years in business. A lot of
homes become accessible. There will be winners
that growth was driven by
and losers and, as advisers, we’ll be here to find
investing in more staff.
the right solutions for our clients.
We grew our
commercial mortgages
Michael McCartney
book by bringing in two
bank managers from the
Director and senior mortgage broker,
We Do Mortgages Ltd, Essex
high street last year, which has strengthened
client relationships. We also expanded our
We’ve been established for
appointed representative (AR) network and built
10 years, and our
out our residential mortgage broker proposition.
specialism is moving
We’ve always done the more complex areas of
families. People are more
finance, but we’ve not been known for doing
cautious now compared
traditional vanilla mortgages, and that’s gone
to a few years ago.
well.
Pre-Covid, the goal
We’re feeling positive about 2026. Last year,
for most people was
many clients were hedging their position, waiting
maximum affordability,
biggest house and the most money they could
borrow.
to see what would happen with rates before
committing. That hesitation has eased as the
rate environment has settled. There is growing
Now, because of the uncertainty in the
acceptance that rates are not going to get back to
economy, people are more conservative with
the artificially low rates of a few years ago. While
their affordability, and I think that’s a good thing.
Our focus in 2025 was on building a more
efficient business model.
We developed our own AI-supported CRM
system to relieve the administrative workload for
our brokers and enhance the client journey.
When I speak to people in the industry about
AI, there are divided opinions, but they always
lead to the same answer.
On one hand you’ve got brokers who are
dismissive of tech because they say people like to
deal with people.
Then I speak to tech companies, they will
further small reductions are possible, we’re
telling clients that rates are what they are.
There will be a lot of borrowers coming off
ultra-low fixed rates this year so there’s still quite
a bit of mortgage shock coming.
Finally, buy-to-let remains challenging,
especially in Scotland.
You’ve got rent controls coming in and
there’s extra regulation in Scotland in terms
of the second home tax at 8%. Having said that
we managed to grow our buy-to-let footprint
last year, despite the difficulties, so there are
opportunities.
simply say to you, technology should enable more
conversations, not get in the way of them. I know
brokers’ time is better spent talking to a client
and supporting them, rather than reviewing
Michelle Niziol
CEO, IMS Property Group, Bicester
documents. So, this year we’ll continue to look
for ways to integrate AI into our business model,
I primarily operate across
simply to allow them to do just that!
residential mortgages and
We’ll also continue to help families find their
remortgaging, with a
next home, regardless of external factors. I’m
strong focus on self-
less concerned with what the Government or the
employed, complex
economy is doing and more concerned about
income and high-net-
sitting with an individual and their family, asking
worth clients. We also do
about their personal circumstances and what it
significant work in
is they want to achieve, and helping them realise
their goals.
buy-to-let and portfolio
lending, alongside protection planning as part of
every mortgage journey.
p
January 2026 | The Intermediary
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