“If a broker’s value proposition is limited to facilitating simple product switches, that value will almost certainly erode over time,” Hayes pointed out. “The true strength of the intermediary model lies in solving problems.”
He highlighted the parts of the market where underwriting nuance still matters, including complex income cases, self-employed applicants, impaired credit, unusual property types and later-life lending. In his view, these cases are less susceptible to standardisation and require judgement that cannot easily be replicated by automated systems.
Technology, he suggested, will not simply displace advisers but separate firms that deliver advice from those that primarily process transactions. The implication is that lenders’ investment in digital tools could compress margins on simple cases, while raising expectations of speed and quality across all cases.
Borrower profiles, Hayes noted, are also shifting in ways that make advice more central. First-time buyers increasingly need structures such as family assistance, shared ownership, joint borrower sole proprietor arrangements, or longer terms. Later life lending is growing as borrowers refinance interest-only loans or manage borrowing into retirement. More flexible incomes, including self-employment, can fall outside traditional models and require careful presentation and lender selection.
Alongside demand, Hayes flagged a supply-side issue: the industry’s ageing workforce and a lack of succession planning in some firms. “A large proportion of UK mortgage advisers are now approaching retirement age,” he said. “Many built their businesses during the rapid growth of the intermediary sector in the early 2000s and have decades of experience, but relatively few have clear succession plans.”
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