Is hybrid working here to stay?

The pandemic may have spurred a shift to hybrid working, thanks to technological advances, but whether it is here to stay is something the industry is still debating.

Many UK mortgage staff have remained working from home full-time, whereas others work from home for one or two days a week.

“Prior to the virus that changed the world, home working was uncommon in our industry,” noted Jim Coupe (pictured), managing director of Skipton International.

Coupe explained that the idea mortgage professionals could, or should, work from home was rarely a consideration, but COVID, and a huge leap in the technology used to support the mortgage sector, has changed that.

He said that the sector has woken up to the fact that, like most service industries, it produces admin, and lots of it. As a result, Coupe outlined that much of the work is suited to being produced at home.

“While customer liaison is an essential part of the mortgage process, large scale numbers of staff sitting in an office is no longer a requirement to servicing the customer well,” he added.

Read more: Two thirds of FS employees want hybrid working after pandemic

According to Coupe, with advancing technology doing much of the heavy lifting these days, lenders can now feasibly conduct business more than satisfactorily while theoretically sitting at their dining room table.

He believes that the use of technology is what has enabled this change in trend. “There is a constant pressure to push boundaries, but it is imperative that, as a business, we do not take our eye off the ball and undervalue the importance of continuing to do our job,” Coupe added.

By this, Coupe explained that he means turning around mortgage applications and delivering the highest standards of service consistently. Coupe went on to say that Skipton International is in the fortunate position of being able to develop mortgage products and embrace technology to meet the ever-evolving needs of its borrowers across the globe.

“This developmental process far outdates the COVID challenges of the past two years, but it is not unfair to say that the challenging period has accelerated some positive implementations,” he added.

All businesses had to adapt during that time and Coupe said it is no different across the mortgage sector. Prior to the pandemic, and certainly hastened by it, Coupe added that the need to implement as much mortgage-related information as possible, and enabling customers to make more informed decisions had been vital in moving forward.

As such, according to Coupe, there is a constant appetite to explore how to deliver a faster, more accurate and low risk remote model.

Coupe said that a number of years ago Skipton International completed the roll out of its online approval in principle technology; prior to this, initial customer enquiries were face-to-face or by telephone, often involving a lot of paper usage.

“By embracing this technology, and swiftly bringing together all the information in one place, we immediately improved efficiency, allowing the enquirer to know in a few clicks how much we would be prepared to lend them and the associated monthly repayment costs,” he added.

As a result, Coupe outlined that the customer relationship is cemented from day one of the process.

The boom in video conferencing and webinars that was prevalent during the COVID era also taught the market to work in a new way.

Read more: FCA reforms decision-making and invests in hybrid working

Previous requirements for direct mortgage applications to be on paper and posted in a mailbox were challenged - and a new way of working was triggered; online video verification was born. In this global era of technological breakthroughs, Coupe said this is one advancement that is most certainly here to stay.

“The speed of change across the property and mortgage markets is relentless. Mortgage lenders, like ourselves, need to keep pushing the boundaries and challenging the status quo throughout the industry,” he concluded.