If the market ends up concentrating into the hands of fewer larger players there is a possibility that over a period of time fees will edge up to a modest extent,” he said.
John Malone, national mortgage manager at Premier Mortgage Service, said: “I’m not convinced there will be sustained levels of proc fee increase. I think most of the lenders and mortgage fraternity will have so much on their plate, they’ll be more concerned by compliance issues.”
Julian Wells, sales and marketing director at Mortgages plc, said: “A lot of people have said the opposite, that regulation will drive proc fees down. However, networks and lenders are trying to distinguish themselves from the crowd, so may want to give mortgage brokers incentives to deal with them or single themselves out.”
David Bitner, head of product operations at The MarketPlace with over 200 advisers, said he expected lenders to draw in as much business as possible in the first nine months of the year before regulation.
“It’s important to have achieved as much as possible before ‘Mortgage Day’, so there are no concerns about targets. Brokers could be up for some extra enticements from lenders.”
“However,” he added, “the key issue for us this year is making sure the necessary systems are in place and that brokers are familiar with the right documents.”
Boulger agreed, adding that Charcol consultants would also undergo “a bit of training” on Initial Disclosure Documents (IDD) and Key Facts Illustrations (KFIs).
But Boulger said the biggest problem facing the mortgage market was firms getting their compliance regimes up and running.
“Although responsibility ends up with the CEO, many company bosses have insufficient experience to oversee these kinds of operations.”
