The Intermediary – July 2026 - Flipbook - Page 30
The Interview.
April Mortgages
The first-time buyer problem
MICHAEL BROWN (L) AND JAMES PAGAN (R)
Jessica Bird
speaks with James Pagan,
director of product, portfolio and
operations, and Michael Brown,
head of business development at
April Mortgages, about designing
mortgages for long-term stability
over headline pricing
sk most people, both in and
outside the market, about
the core challenge for the
average first-time buyer
(FTB), and they will inevitably
land on the deposit. Saving
a substantial chunk of funds
has always been a challenge,
and never more so than during a period of
higher rents, cost-of-living squeezes, and
economic instability.
However, this is no longer the only – or even
the defining – barrier to homeownership.
Indeed, affordability often prevents buyers from
purchasing, even when the right deposit has
finally been achieved.
It is against this backdrop that The
Intermediary sat down with April Mortgages, to
understand the real challenges facing first-time
buyers, and how lenders can fill in the gaps.
A
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The Intermediary | July 2026
Today’s buyers have much less predictable
careers than previous generations, as well as
greater geographical and international mobility.
Meanwhile, house prices and wage growth have
been out of sync for a long time.
Michael Brown, head of business
development at April Mortgages, says: “We’re
seeing a huge gap, which means people are
renting longer, creating a challenge around
being able to save for a home.
“Another area people sometimes miss is the
amount of student debt now compared with 10
or 15 years ago, when the debt burden was quite
a lot lower.
“Overall, life is really unpredictable now, with
the pandemic, unemployment starting to rise,
growing mental health challenges, an unstable
Government meaning policies have come in and
then gone out.
“All of these things have had an impact for
first-time buyers, and they don’t know whether
they’re coming or going.”
This increased complexity has heightened the
importance of brokers, particularly in helping
first-timers navigate a complex market that has
not been quick enough to adapt.
James Pagan, director of product, portfolio
and operations at April Mortgages, says: “The
market, both in terms of buying a house and
getting a mortgage, hasn’t really stood up to
that complexity.
“A good adviser is the person that papers over
the cracks. I’ve got massive respect for what the
adviser market has done over the past 15 years.”
In every market cycle, particularly now that
artificial intelligence (AI) has fully entered
the chat, there is an inevitable conversation
about adviser obsolescence. Today, borrowers
are more informed than ever, with access
to information at their fingertips, financial
‘influencers’ giving them seemingly free insights
of varying quality, and even chatbots that can
provide a simulacrum of advice to help them
interpret a complex market.
Nevertheless, Pagan says, “while the internet
gives customers information, advisers give
customers confidence.” In fact, the wealth of
resources out there seems only to be helping
borrowers realise how complex the options are,
and understand the need for a trusted resource.
