We held a live webinar on how the mortgage market is affected by economic headwinds in December 2022.
During the session, Iain Cunningham, Corporate Account Manager at Accord Mortgages, was joined by Nitesh Patel, Strategic Economist at Accord Mortgages.
Nitesh shared his insights and expertise on many issues and challenges currently facing brokers, including:
Nitesh, who you may know from his Economics 101 articles in our Growth Library, also points attendees to useful resources such as Monthly Economic Insight - December 2022 | Insights | UK Finance and answers their questions.
A question that brokers were keen to have answered on the day was 'Do you envisage any change to product pricing or underwriting in relation to energy performance certificates or green-inspired mortgages?'
We put this to Ben Merritt, Director of Mortgages, YBS who responded;
"In the short-to-medium term, we don’t envisage any change to product pricing or underwriting in relation to energy performance certificates or green-inspired mortgages."
“There is no doubt the mortgage industry, like others, is in the process of deciding how it will respond to the global climate challenge – in terms of both how providers can protect themselves from the increasing threats posed by extreme weather events in relation to the properties they are lending on, and how they can play a part in incentivising better energy efficiency within the housing market.
“This process of adaptation is being led by regulators, in consultation with lenders. We could arguably view the potential deadline of 2025 being imposed on buy-to-let landlords for complying with the new EPC standards, as a bell weather for more such moves. However, in reality, we think any further significant changes are likely to be some years off. This is because of the need to be clear about everything from the systems required to support alternative underwriting, to the potential impact on owners of older properties, who could find it harder to comply with increased green standards and therefore to access affordable loans.
“Accord, in principle, is committed to encouraging energy efficiency and is both contributing to industry discussions about what that might mean, and considering product innovations to encourage people to upgrade their properties or purchase greener ones. We’ll, of course, announce any specific plans in due course.”
Of course, you might not have been able to join the live webinar, or perhaps you’ve only recently discovered the Growth Series. If that’s the case, you can watch a recording of the presentation below:
Don’t forget, by attending our events on the day, you’ll be able to join in with exclusive Q&A sessions and put your questions to the experts.
Keep an eye on your inbox for upcoming event invites, and if you have any ideas for future events you’d like us to host, please don’t hesitate to share them with us.