The second national lockdown in the UK is unlikely to cause any new issues for the housing market, according to Martin Reynolds, chief executive of SimplyBiz Mortgages and chairman of AMI.
The second national lockdown is unlikely to cause any new issues for the housing market, according to Martin Reynolds, chief executive of SimplyBiz Mortgages and chairman of AMI.
Reynolds revealed this during a webinar hosted by Mortgage Introducer’s publishing director Robyn Hall.
He went on to explain that the first lockdown saw many issues arise for the housing market, which he outlined as primarily focusing around balancing a high volume of cases.
Reynolds believes that we will see a repeat of the same issues over the course of the second lockdown, which is due to begin on 5 November.
Looking to BDMs, Reynolds noted that an issue centring from the high quantity of cases has meant that many BDMs are being asked to cover the phones, which is in order to stem the demand of inquires from customers.
Going into the second lockdown, Reynolds said that the most important thing is transparency.
He explained: “Transparency needs to come from the lenders. Accord Mortgages, Coventry Building Society and HSBC have done a good job of this, however, all lenders need to reveal the reasons behind their decisions in the house buying process.”
Furthermore, when asked about future predictions, Reynolds said: “It is anybody’s guess where the market will be. The future outlook for the market depends heavily on the virus and the progression towards a cure.”
However, he added that the value of advice is key, and Reynolds believes consumers have grabbed onto that, which he outlined points to the importance of the intermediary market.
