JLM Mortgage

Mortgage network urges lenders to focus on being region-specific




JLM Mortgage Services has told lenders that they should consider sector-specific product ranges in order to support advisers in the various areas of the UK.

The mortgage and protection network said that a homogenised product range was no longer suitable for today’s mortgage borrower due to the significant differences that can exist between regions.

JLM argued that a region-specific product approach might allow lenders to look at increasing LTVs in the buy-to-let market or offer a tiered LTV/rate approach to borrowers looking to buy in a different market.

It added that lenders could learn from insurers who tailor premiums to an individual person or have sufficient data to underwrite property in region-specific ways.

Rory Joseph, director of JLM Mortgage Services, said: “Our view is that, in this market, a one size fits all lending approach is not going to work if you are a relatively new lender who is merely replicating the range of tens of lenders that already exist, have a larger lending appetite, and a far wider reach.

“In talking to numerous lenders, and weighing up the needs of our clients right across the country, there would be considerable mileage in providing region/sector-specific products.

“For instance, with buy-to-let that could mean increasing LTVs for HMO or multi-unit blocks in large student cities such as Sheffield, Leeds, Nottingham and the like, or it could mean offering different criteria/higher LTVs in London, which as we all know is a ‘different place’ when it comes to the housing market.

“There are opportunities to drill down and get much more specific in different regions.”

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