As part of the arrangement, Linear Mortgage Network will provide a qualified mortgage adviser to each Link Up Properties estate agency that needs one.
Announcing the link, Cherie Matthews, operations director at Link Up Properties, said: “It is a key feature of our proposition that we have a specialist mortgage company to work alongside us.”
Mark Graves, founding director at Linear Mortgage Network, added that the deal would allow both companies to expand. He said: “This deal brings together two like-minded companies. Both Linear Mortgage Services and Link Up Properties believe in offering excellent customer service by fully trained professionals and, thanks to this ethos, both companies are expanding rapidly.”
However, following a BBC Whistleblower investigation into the relationship between mortgage broker firms and estate agencies, brokers have expressed their concern about firms opting to tie-in with estate agencies. Hugh Nichols, partner at Badbury Berkeley Mortgage Services, said the link could potentially harm clients looking for impartial advice. He argued: “I do not like the idea of mortgage firms tying-in with estate agents. There can be a conflict of interest and blur of what exactly is being provided, as one half of the organisation is acting on behalf of the vendor – the seller trying to sell the property – while the other half is acting for the buyer in securing a mortgage. Things like this are not allowed in the law profession, so I do not see why they are allowed in the mortgage market.
Nichols added: “I do not think house purchasers should take any kind of financial advice from estate agency firms, or any company they are tied with. Consumers should always seek independent financial advice.”
