The Intermediary – October 2026 - Flipbook - Page 27
I N P RO F I L E
“You can almost put a ring around three months
in somebody’s credit history. They paid everything
before, they’ve paid everything since, but they’ve
had three months where something’s gone on. We
can nearly always trace that back to a life event.”
Rather than treating these circumstances as
evidence of an inherently higher-risk borrower,
lenders must consider the wider context of an
application – challenging the idea that there is
such a thing as a ‘specialist borrower’ at all.
Barnard says: “They’re just ordinary people with
modern financial lives. If you look at the route to a
mortgage, it’s very, very rarely straight these days.
There are lots of twists and turns as you go.
“For me, a specialist case is ultimately one where
you need to understand the customer’s individual
circumstances rather than expecting them just to
fit an automated one-size fits all approach.”
The advice advantage
As borrower circumstances become more
varied, the role of intermediaries is increasingly
important. According to Pepper’s research, 46%
of Scottish borrowers with adverse credit who are
planning to buy within the next 18 months see a
broker as “essential” to the process.
For Barnard, the value of advice lies not simply in
securing a competitive rate, but in understanding
how individual circumstances align with different
lenders’ requirements. He says: “Complexity
creates uncertainty.. Good advice on the back of
eople can be very confused
that creates clarity. People
by decisions that aree given, but finding the right
eal path forward.”
broker can give them a real
He adds: “They’re nott just then finding the
best rate for the customer.. They’re interpreting
standing the customer’s
criteria. They’re understanding
es and then matching them with the
circumstances
om their experience.”
right lender they know from
As an intermediary-only lender, Pepper Money
standing where its
depends on brokers understanding
ommodate cases.
criteria can accommodate
’re building our first
Barnard says: “Whilst we’re
tland, we know that deep
charge presence in Scotland,
eated simply because we’ve
relationships aren’t created
’ve added a few postcodes into
launched and we’ve
rust is earned case-byour portal for processing. Trust
onversation.”
case and conversation-by-conversation.”
Supporting that effort is Michael Walsh,
esentative on the ground in
Pepper’s representative
Scotland, whose experiencee spans specialist
eam lending, as well as mortgage
and mainstream
d sees that combination as
broking. Barnard
particularly valuable in understanding the
es intermediaries face.
practical challenges
Good intermediary
He continues: “Good
ys. We want
relationships work both ways.
brokers to understand where Pepper can
help, but equally we want them telling us where
we could do things even better.”
Widening access
Pepper is also looking to enhance access
to homeownership across the whole of the
UK.Shared Ownership is a particular focus, with
Barnard having recently spoken about the issue
at the Labour Party Conference, and delivered a
white-paper to Downing Street in early October.
At the centre of Pepper’s recommendations is a
review of household income caps. These currently
stand at £80,000 outside London and £90,000 in
the capital, unchanged since 2016.
Barnard explains: “Now, you’ve also got
households who could earn too much to qualify
for Shared Ownership but still don’t have a deposit
or borrowing capacity to buy the home they need
on the open market. I don’t think that can be the
outcome that policymakers intended.”
The debate comes as the Government develops
its new ‘Your First Home’ scheme in England.
While Barnard welcomes the initiative, he
cautions against overlooking existing routes to
homeownership.
Continued growth
As Pepper continues to push for wider access to
homeownership at a policy level, its immediate
priorities in Scotland centre on establishing a
lasting presence in the market.
Barnard says: “12 months from now, I would like
Scottish mortgage brokers to feel that Pepper has
genuinely added something to
their market.”
He concludes: “If
brokers are thinking
about Pepper earlier
in the conversation,
because we’ve
demonstrated that
we’ll take the time
to understand
the customer’s
circumstances, then
I would regard that as
real progress.” ●
ROB BARNARD
October 2026 | The Intermediary
