•Almost 65,000 individuals now hold an accredited qualification.
•Platform for raised industry standards and quality of mortgage advice.
In January 2003, the Mortgage Code Compliance Board (MCCB), the non-statutory regulator of the UK home loans industry, announced that 51,000 individuals had met its qualifications requirement when this (along with MCCB’s wider Fitness and
Competence Requirements) was fully implemented on 1 January 2003.
The MCCB has now announced that, since the deadline, significant activity has continued and a further 14,000 individuals have now gained one of the required qualifications, with yet more registered to sit papers in the coming months. This indicates that the Requirements have become established as an entry level for advisers in the mortgage industry. The new total now stands at 64,418 qualified individuals.
MCCB estimates that there are around 55,000 mortgage advisers active in the market. Whilst the total number of individuals qualified will include some back office staff,
managers and a number who may have since left the industry, it seems certain that the vast majority of practising advisers are now fully qualified. The successful implementation of the qualification requirements in this manner represents
remarkable progress, of which the mortgage industry can be justly proud.
Additionally, MCCB has welcomed the FSA’s confirmation that individuals who already meet MCCB’s Fitness and Competence Requirements, and who have gained a professional mortgage qualification, will not need to sit a new examination in order to
advise on standard mortgages after statutory regulation is introduced. This process, known as ‘grandfathering’, acknowledges the impact of MCCB’s Requirements in
raising industry standards, and means that the effort of practitioners in meeting the requirements has been recognised.
Commenting on the latest statistics, Luke March, Chief MCCB, said:
“The successful introduction of Fitness and Competence requirements and, in particular, of compulsory professional qualifications for mortgage advisers will be one of our many lasting legacies after ‘Mortgage Day’. MCCB has worked hard, in
consultation with the industry, to raise standards and the continued integration of the qualifications, recognised by FSA’s ‘grandfathering’ arrangements, is a great result in terms of improving the quality of advice provided to mortgage customers.”
