The Intermediary –- May 2026 - Flipbook - Page 84
B RO K E R B U S I N E S S
Opinion
The end of
the traditional
mortgage adviser?
L
et’s be honest – the
mortgage advice market
is changing, faster
than many are willing
to admit. For years,
advisers have built
strong, sustainable businesses on what
we might call ‘core’ mortgage activity:
straightforward residential purchases,
remortgages, product transfers.
But that backbone is now under
pressure. Not because advisers
are doing anything wrong – but
because lenders are doing something
very right.
A shift in plain sight
Lenders are investing heavily in
technology. Not just incremental
improvements, but a fundamental
redesign of how customers engage,
apply, and complete transactions.
Digital journeys are becoming
faster, simpler and more intuitive. In
many cases, a borrower with a clean
credit profile and stable income can
now complete the process without
ever speaking to an adviser.
Importantly – from a Consumer
Duty perspective – that can still
represent a good customer outcome.
That’s the key point. This isn’t a
broken system being replaced. It’s a
working system being improved.
If we accept that, we also must
accept the consequence: the
volume of simple cases available
to intermediaries will reduce. Not
overnight. Not entirely. But enough
to maer.
That creates a gradual squeeze.
More advisers competing for fewer
straightforward cases. Increased
pressure on fees and procuration
income. Greater reliance on lead
generation to maintain volume. In
that environment, standing still is
not a strategy. We are already starting
82
The Intermediary | May 2026
to see a subtle shi in behaviour.
Cases that would previously have
gone through advisers are completing
directly. Clients are becoming more
confident in handling straightforward
transactions themselves. Advisers are
finding that what used to be a reliable
flow of business is becoming less
predictable. It is not dramatic. Not yet.
But it is happening.
The question is no longer: ‘How
do I get more mortgage leads?’ It
is this: ‘What does my business
look like when simple cases are no
longer enough?’
Because the future of advice is not
about volume. It is about value.
Where the market’s moving
While one part of the market becomes
more automated, another is moving
in the opposite direction – becoming
more complex, more specialist, and
more advice-driven.
This includes areas such as second
charge lending, bridging finance,
complex buy-to-let, commercial
lending, and cases involving nonstandard income or credit profiles.
These are not areas that can
be fully digitised. They require
interpretation, structuring,
experience and judgement. In short,
they require advisers.
For many, these cases are already
siing within their client bank,
but not always being identified or
progressed. A client looking to raise
capital may default to a remortgage,
when a second charge could be more
appropriate. A landlord restructuring
a portfolio may not explore all
available options. A business owner
may never be asked the right questions
in the first place.
The opportunity is not always new
business. Oen, it is beer utilisation
of the business already in front of you.
MARTIN SWANN
is sales and managing
director at Try Financial
Rise of the specialist
This is where the opportunity lies. Not
in defending the traditional model,
but in evolving beyond it.
The adviser of the future will not
be defined by how many cases they
complete, but by the complexity they
can handle, the breadth of solutions,
and the value they bring. This is
a different skillset entirely, and it
requires a different kind of support.
No individual adviser can be an
expert in everything, but the right
network can provide access to a much
broader capability, providing access
to specialist expertise, centralised
support for complex cases, and
technology designed to reduce friction
rather than add to it.
The aim is simple: to enable advisers
to operate at a higher level than they
could on their own.
One of the biggest risks in this
market is timing. Many advisers can
still build a good business today using
traditional methods. But the shi is
already happening. The risk is that
it happens gradually enough to be
ignored – until it is too late to respond
properly. The tipping point rarely
announces itself. It is recognised only
in hindsight.
This is not the end of mortgage
advice. It is the end of a version
of mortgage advice that has been
dominant for the past two decades.
What replaces it will be more
specialist, more valuable, and more
integrated, and ultimately, more
rewarding for those who embrace it.
So the real question becomes: are
we preparing advisers for the market
that is coming, or the market that is
already starting to disappear? ●
