Brian Ewing, national sales manager at Intelligent Finance (IF), believed that offset mortgages had matured in the eyes of intermediaries, who were now driving the sale of these products.
Ewing explained: “Offset was originally seen very much as a niche product but now that the pricing has become more competitive and it is now included on sourcing systems such as Trigold, intermediaries are beginning to consider them alongside conventional mortgages.
"With economic conditions as they are and people continuing to take a more holistic view of their finances, the popularity of offset mortgages is set to continue rising.”
The claim came as IF launched research into the Australian offset market, which insisted the UK could save £345 billion if we copied our Antipodean cousins in our take-up of offset.
IF found around 50 per cent of mortgages in Australia had some sort of offsetting aspect, compared to 8 per cent in the UK, despite the fact that the two housing markets were quite similar.
Darren Pescod, managing director of The Mortgage Broker Ltd, commented: “Our offset enquiries have increased dramatically, by maybe 200 or 250 per cent, and as consumer enquiries have gone up, our advisers have needed to have a good understanding so that they can recommend it if it’s the right product for the client.”
