Speaking at the Mortgage Next conference, Nigel Payne, managing director of The Mortgage Business (TMB), said that despite talk of a slowdown in the housing sector, 2008 was still set to be the third biggest market ever seen in the UK.
Most predictions put business levels at between £300-£350 billion and because of the large amount of remortgaging, in Payne’s eyes, this would prevent any crash.
He said: “The big one next year will be remortgaging, with £150 billion coming up for renewal. These people may have fixed at sub-5 per cent, or even sub-4 per cent, so they’ll be in for a rate shock and will be looking to brokers to remortgage.”
Payne admitted that this would help brokers through the first six months of 2008, which were expected to be tough for new business.
He also pointed to other income streams which would become more important as new business dried up.
He said: “There are many ways which brokers can earn a proc fee, even if they are not processing new business. We’re looking at a several, including offering current accounts to high net worth customers through brokers.”
However, the panel, which included Chris Pearson, director of intermediary mortgages at RBS Intermediary Partners, was split over the future of proc fees.
Payne believed: “We always want to pay more but I think it will become all about using proc fees smarter.”
Pearson said: “Proc fees next year might be lower as lenders look closely at the value of business they get.”
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