Mortgage Lending in the Credit Crunch

The confidence of building societies in their business model was the key theme to emerge from BSA’s “Mortgage Lending in the Credit Crunch” seminar.

Despite the poor economic conditions, speakers at the event argued that societies still have an important role to play in allowing people the opportunity to buy a home.

Colin Franklin from the Coventry Building Society recognised the changes in the market, but, he said, this offered opportunities to innovative organisations to offer a new range of products that reflected these changed conditions. He suggested that the remortgaging business offers particular scope for societies to ensure that future growth is via offering high quality loans, and outlined some of the innovative products that the Coventry is now successfully offering in the marketplace.

But it is not only large societies that are prospering. Mike Heenan from the Stafford Railway Building Society outlined how a small product range means that costs are minimised and product prices are competitive, attracting business from around the country. At the same time developing links with the local community ensures that the society’s local profile, and business levels, remain high.

Other speakers included Simon Tyler from Chase de Vere who argued that intermediaries have an important role to play in ensuring that societies get the high quality loan books that they need. He also extolled the virtues of lifetime mortgages, saying that lenders who didn’t make such products available are doing a disservice to their customers.

Jeremy Hicks from Chelsea Building Society also outlined how societies can use their mutual status to differentiate themselves from competitors, and Darren Cook from Moneyfacts outlined why consumers use comparison websites and spoke of the importance of such sites remaining independent.