Do you ever think back to the good old days prior to the onset on the credit crunch? There was once plenty of business, plenty of funding, plenty of profit. Aldermore Commercial Mortgages’ Managing Director, Rob Lankey, explains what’s next for the market after the shutters came down and the financial world was turned on its head…

It seemed that virtually overnight the flow of new business came to an end and, at the same time, lenders stopped lending and the supply of funding dwindled to a mere dribble before drying up altogether.

As good as the pre-credit crunch days may seem in hindsight, they did present brokers with a few headaches. Having lots of lenders and a plentiful supply of products to choose from was all well and good, but it created a lot of work keeping on top of the latest developments and knowing which lenders to approach on behalf of different clients.

I’m sure you’d put up with those types of headaches once again in return for a more buoyant market. Although we’re unlikely to see a return to such a buoyant market any time soon, there are signs of a slow but gradual improvement, especially when it comes to lenders.

Not only are there new ‘post-credit crunch’ banks such as Aldermore and Shawbrook Bank on the scene, but there is some early evidence that traditional lenders are also starting to review their criteria to make them slightly more accommodating. It may not be a wholesale reversal of fortunes, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Schemes such as Funding for Lending are also starting to make a difference. There is no doubt that this government backed scheme is having an impact and it will be interesting to see how much difference it continues to make over the course of the coming year.

All of which is good news.

Once again, brokers are starting to be presented with a choice, and choice means that, once again, brokers need to understand the subtle differences between the lenders they deal with - their strengths and weaknesses and the market sectors they are focussed on.

It doesn’t need me to tell you how important it is to build strong working relationships with those lenders with whom you deal on a regular basis. It’s more important today than it has ever been previously to understand what is and what isn’t acceptable to specific lenders and to have a good working knowledge of different lenders’ credit policies and lending terms.

Most brokers know from many years’ experience that, when it comes to commercial mortgage applications, the difference between success or failure is often down to the way in which a case has been compiled and presented to the lender. In today’s market, brokers need to be realistic. There’s little point in ‘having a go’ with a case that stands little chance of success and creating false hopes with clients. It’s far better to concentrate on those applications that do stack-up, because it’s inevitable that lenders will favour brokers with a proven track record of submitting credible, well-presented applications.

The time has come, once again, for brokers to get close to and understand the lenders they work with. One thing has not changed since the good old days – relationships really matter.