Archive: Dec 2018

2018 was a big year for the industry and it brought with it many complicated changes and advancements that heightened the value of intermediaries. Our Products Development Manager, Nathan Reilly, takes a look at the main changes from over the past 12 months.

Retirement Interest Only

In March Retirement Interest Only mortgages were reclassified. Having previously been classed as a form of equity release, advisers once needed the appropriate qualification to advise on the product. They have since been redefined by the FCA and RIO mortgages, in their simplest form, are retirement interest only mortgages that don’t have a fixed repayment date.

Members of our Network and Club received a dedicated later life lending edition of our Insight magazine in September to keep them up to speed with the changes and we also hosted specialist RIO webinars and covered the changes in more detail at our MI Live roadshows. Moving into next year we’re looking to host a dedicated later life lending workshop too!

EPC

The start of April saw changes to the private rental sector. Rental properties, since the change, must have a minimum Energy Performance Certificate rating of an E. The change applies to new lets and renewals meaning existing tenancies have until April 1^st 2020.

This meant that landlords could no longer rent out properties with a rating of F or G and if required energy improvements should be carried out. These improvements range from simple things like swapping light bulbs for energy efficient ones to potentially more complex and costly issues like insulating wall cavities or roofing and updating a boiler system.

GDPR

A big change, that still remains relevant today, are the changes that were enforced as part of the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. The changes overhauled how businesses process and handle data and GDPR became the new framework for data protection laws.

The mortgage industry has felt the full impact of GDPR too, from lenders to brokers, everyone has been affected. GDPR is here to stay so it is important you continue to think about the data you hold, the way it is stored and what you may need to change within your business.

Technology

Like almost every other industry, the mortgage industry has seen changes in technology over the past 12 months.

From APIs seamlessly connecting the intermediary and lender – saving time by removing the rekeying of information, to chat bots supporting customers through the mortgage application process, there have been a whole host of advancements in 2018. We covered many of the changes for you in the October edition of Insight Magazine, we gave you an overview of some of the technology out there and talked about how it’ll impact you.

We believe that technology has an important part of play in the future of the mortgage industry and we are continuously looking at how tech can improve the services we offer and how it can benefit our brokers.

HMOs

One of the largest changes we saw towards the end of the year was the changes to Houses of Multiple Occupation regulations. The main changes meant that houses with five or more people from two or more households must now be licensed as an HMO, properties with any number of storeys can now be an HMO, houses now have a minimum room size for bedrooms and they must have an appropriate place to store rubbish.

To become a member of our award-winning network or club contact us today on 0345 130 7446.

With 2019 just around the corner there’s no better time to start planning your marketing strategy and improve the way you do things. Our Senior Marketing Executive, Nick Terry, gives you his top five marketing tips to make your goals more achievable.

Know your audience

For me, my first marketing tip for advisers, or any business, is to know your audience and know where their attention is. You must recognise which platforms your customers and potential customers engage with but also find out what questions they’re asking, then you can try to answer those questions.

Add value with content

Producing regular content through a website or blog is a great way to grow your brand but it’s important to get this right. With your content you don’t want to oversell your business but rather give away your knowledge for free. Adding this value in advance means that people will trust you and think you’re credible.

I know that as brokers you’re busy and often don’t have the time to write your own content, which is why at Mortgage Intelligence we have articles ready to be downloaded and used. Just log in to Broker Zone and go to Services > Marketing > Content Marketing.

Don’t neglect existing customers

As advisers you may already have a big client bank. It’s always important that you make sure you don’t neglect your existing customers while chasing new ones – be sure to check in every so often with your existing customers to see if their circumstances have changed or to see if you can help them in any way.

Tell stories

People react to people. A big part of your marketing approach these days should be focused on demonstrating the successes of your clients. Call it a case study or a testimonial, but essentially, you’re telling a story, and in the process making your business relatable to a potential customer. For example, instead of a couple posting a photo of the inside of their new house in celebration of completing on a mortgage, a more powerful photo would be for them to take a selfie of themselves in the house. This way when you’re viewing the photo you’re already starting to create a story for them in your head, making the imagery more engaging.

Reviews and Feedback

One of the key things that can really help your marketing strategy is by getting feedback and reviews. Many potential customers now read online reviews that can heavily impact their buying decisions. Asking every customer to leave a review on google or your website (asking face to face always works best!) should slowly build up your reviews for new potential customers to read. This process, linking back to my first point, will also allow you get to know your customer better and what questions they’re asking!

We have many services available on Broker Zone to help you with your marketing proposition from content that will add value to promotional materials, all signed off by compliance and ready to use. Give our fantastic marketing team an email if you would like some more information marketing@experiencemi.co.uk.

Join our award-winning Mortgage Network as an appointed representative, or become a member of our Mortgage Club, to start benefiting from our fantastic range of comprehensive services and support. Call the Broker Support Team on 0345 130 7446 (opt 1) to find out more.