ay in 2006, the onset of a predicted housing transaction fall and the continuation of a ‘tough’ market in addition to the arrival of Home Information Packs (HIPs) in 2007, MAB chief executive Peter Brodnicki admitted brokers face a tough time over the next two years.
Speaking at the 2005 MAB sales conference he said: “I think many people have underestima-ted how much the world is going to change. They thought ‘Mortgage Day’ was the big challenge but our view is that the next two years are going to be far more demanding.
“Only those brokers with the foresight to adopt new ways of working will thrive. For individual advisers this means being extremely careful about which networks or businesses they choose to work for.”
Brodnicki argued the increasing financial burden placed on brokers might make many consider their future in the profession, a statement backed by Kim Barrett, proprietor at KS Barrett & Associates.
Barrett said: “This is stating the obvious. Property transactions have fallen massively and now brokers are clinging on to remortgage transactions. It is too many advisers for too little work. The less we work, the less we get paid but yet we still have our overheads which include the regulatory costs.”
MAB went on to suggest that brokers need to evolve and begin to offer new services, such as personal loans and conveyancing in order to succeed in this increasingly competitive sector. However, Barrett dismissed this move: “I can’t see many brokers offering personal loans as the client is more likely to remortgage first and those that seek a personal loan will probably be a risk.”
