The Intermediary – January 2026 - Flipbook - Page 37
T H E I N T E RV I E W
OSB Group
sector of moving into a new phase.
He says: “As I sit here going into 2026,
we’re all probably glad 2025 is over. In some
ways, getting a new lender to market was
quite hard, but for us, having an established
investor brand out there now, having the
industry experience with the team that we
have, and a new platform that can get things to
market a lot quicker – I think there is plenty of
opportunities.”
Indeed, rate expectations also loom large
in his outlook, with Moloney pointing to the
recent December Base Rate reduction as an
overwhelming sign of positivity, along with the
seasonal behaviour that typically follows.
He adds: “Every lender hits off the start
of the year hard because they want to build
pipeline for the year and get ahead of that.”
For intermediaries, however, the most
powerful driver of activity may be structural
rather than cyclical. Moloney highlights the
scale of fixed rate expiries due in 2026, noting
“a record number of fixed rate reversions,
potential product transfers, potential
remortgages,” creating significant demand for
advice and lender support across both buy-tolet and residential landscapes.
Specifically within the owner-occupied
market, he sees product transfers continuing
to dominate volumes, describing them as “a
big opportunity” for brokers, even as questions
remain around execution-only rules and the
risk of channel conflict for lenders operating
both direct and intermediary routes – but he
remains confident in brokers’ ability to navigate
that complexity.
Moloney argues that intermediaries have
already proven their value, pointing to “a swing
massively in favour of distribution through
brokers rather than through direct channels,”
and praising the role of advisers as they
“have done a phenomenal job of supporting
borrowers” in the post-Mortgage Market
Review (MMR) landscape.
More to come
As the conversation turns to what comes next
for OSB, Moloney is careful to strike a balance
between ambition and realism.
“If you talk about a couple of years ahead,
that’s a long time,” he says. “But I think it would
be fair to say that we’ve been blown away with
the success of the Rely launch.”
The immediate priority now, he explains, is
simplification and focus.
This involves retiring legacy propositions,
further consolidating buy-to-let under the
single Rely brand, and building out a clearer
We all talk about
professionalisation, but
there are still new landlords
coming to market. One of
the good things about Rely is
that we can support people
who want to enter the buyto-let property market, want
to build portfolios, want to
start that off”
structure across the group’s specialist
offerings.
Beyond Rely itself, the strategy is
underpinned by a longer-term platform vision
already underway. Moloney outlines future
plans to migrate other brands onto the same
technology, starting with Precise’s residential
offering.
He explains: “That will give us a bigger
offering in terms of products, but it also
enables us to bring in this valuation technology
that we use on Rely to speed up the process of
the residential offerings.
“Further down the line, the plan is to bring
commercial and bridging onto that platform
as well. Then you’ve got a real consistent
approach up front of speed, reduction in
keying, reduction in paperwork, and a lot
clearer role in terms of the valuation pathway.
This is phase one of a really exciting pathway
for OSB’s brands.”
For brokers, he believes this clarity of
structure matters as much as innovation itself.
“I think the fact that we’ve got that clarity
of where the brands support the market is
really important for brokers,” he says, noting
that early feedback suggests the strategy is
resonating.
He adds: “Having this brand clarity between
our offerings is what they want […] and that
gives us the reassurance that we’ve done the
right thing.”
Looking ahead, with a new lender launched,
a simplified house of brands and a broker-only
model firmly in place, OSB’s focus now turns
to building on those foundations. As Moloney
sums up: “2026 will be an exciting year.” ●
January 2026 | The Intermediary
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