Mortgage lenders have upped service standards, say brokers

The research was carried out by NOP in December 2002 and covers the period September to November 2002.

MOI KEY FINDINGS:

- 74% of mortgage intermediaries believe service

from lenders has been good over the past quarter,

an improvement of 11% on the previous quarter

- 63% believe mortgage regulation will improve

the prospects of the business they work for. This

is up from 57%

- 65% agree that mortgage sales leads are higher

than this time last year showing the continued

buoyancy of the UK mortgage market

- 79% either agreed or agreed strongly that they

were positive about future mortgage sales

opportunities over the next year.

- The level of mortgage business actually

written decreased by 9% on the previous quarter

but had still increased for 59% of mortgage

intermediaries.

Scott Mowbray, marketing manager at The One account said: "The Mortgage Outlook Index shows that intermediaries believe lenders' service is improving all the time. This is probably because of an increased focus in service standards from lenders who are finding it difficult to compete on product features which can be copied very quickly. Service is clearly going to be

the key selling point in the future.

"With all the talk of a hard landing in the housing market in 2003 and lower levels of mortgage business actually written by intermediaires in the last quarter it is interesting and encouraging to see a robust outlook and improving intermediary confidence when it comes to mortgage sales opportunities over the next year."

He added: "Mortgage regulation continues to hold no fear for intermediaries who appear to be looking forward to the

new regime when finally implemented."

The next Mortgage Outlook Index from The One account will be available in May 2003.