The Intermediary – October 2026 - Flipbook - Page 88
B RO K E R B U S I N E S S
Opinion
Trial and error?
Not in this market!
A
s many of us
know – and have
experienced now for
over half a decade
– the intermediary
landscape is tough.
Clients naturally shop around a lot
more, gone are the conveniences of
popping to your local brokerage, due
to the ease created with technology
for virtual meetings and instant
messaging. Clients want convenience,
speed and deliverability.
For brokers, it’s a tough arena.
Clients expect fast outcomes the first
time around. Have to go and pick
up your lile one from nursery and
reschedule a client call? That could
mean that a new client goes to the
next broker expecting an immediate
outcome. Longstanding clients who
know you can deliver are a completely
different story, but again, you cannot
drop the ball, ever.
Where the pressure gets added is
with the constantly fluctuating rate
card from lenders. If a case wasn’t
structured and submied to a lender
with complete accuracy, then while
that application was in underwriting,
rates may have risen significantly.
We oen see clients having to
stretch income multiples to the
maximum due to the ongoing
struggles with living costs. A decline
forcing a replace to a lender when
interest rates have risen could mean
the end of that purchase for the client.
Brokers now, more than ever, are
reliant on solid lender criteria, BDM
confidence, trust in conveyancers to
get the deal done, and the hope that
valuers will feel comfortable with
the property.
It’s a tough gig, but if brokers in
our industry can ever show their
worth and their value, it’s now.
Furthermore, the broker community
seems to be strengthening.
A problem shared
At the Fowler Smith Mortgages &
Protection office, we’re seeing brokers
liaising with one another day in and
day out, sharing ideas and solutions to
ensure complete accuracy to get deals
over the line.
Thankfully, with an experienced
team that’s the case more oen than
not, and it keeps us thriving and
enjoying the otherwise stressful role.
In my specialist brokerage,
Andromeda Specialist Finance, we’re
oen seeing clients come to us aer
options have been exhausted with the
more ‘vanilla’ lending options, so a
more bespoke structured deal needs to
be explored.
Either that, or especially when it
comes to off-plan buy-to-let (BTL)
investment purchases, completion
notices have been served and the client
doesn’t have a mortgage offer yet.
This is where dynamic, asset-focused
The bigger picture: Brokers must work together to make the pieces fit
86
The Intermediary | October 2026
JONATHAN FOWLER
is founder and managing
director at Fowler Smith
Mortgages & Protection
bridging options can sometimes be
required to deliver to the client and
avoid a ‘failure to complete’ scenario.
I’ve mentioned it a number of times
before, but in today’s market we need
black and white facts. This lender
has appetite for this, and doesn’t have
appetite for that. I do wish, as I’m
sure many of us do, that we could get
more certainty on the very commonly
used term ‘valuer’s comments’. We
all know that one valuer’s comment
may be very different from the other.
And that isn’t a valuer’s fault, it’s oen
because the lender handbook might
equally be ambiguous, perhaps.
With this in mind, it’s definitely
harder for those joining our industry.
Firms and networks will likely be
strengthening their ‘new to industry’
training schemes to ensure near
perfection is met from the outset.
Yes, every case is assessed and
watched and checked from a
compliance perspective, naturally. But
now, case placing has to be absolute
pinpoint, as it’s truly make or break
for the client.
So, as the title to my article suggests,
trial and error is no longer an option.
Learning from others is. Pinpointing
and pressing lenders for commitment
is vital. Consistent conversation
and honest feedback is required to
ensure we continue to provide the
outstanding service that we all do in
this industry to our clients, even when
we know that some third-parties have
more control than we do to ensure a
deal sees completion! ●
