"Some are boosting their workforce numbers while others are upskilling existing staff, an approach that ultimately increases the expertise in the sector."
- Louisa Sedgwick, commercial director for mortgages at Paragon
More than half of mortgage intermediary firms are expanding as optimism amongst brokers continues to improve, new research from Paragon Bank shows.
The summer report shows that 51% of firms are currently expanding, up from 38% recorded in the winter edition of the intermediary barometer.
Conversely, the proportion who stated that their employer is scaling back has fallen from 7% to just 5% during the same period.
The most common approach to growth adopted by firms is recruitment. Over a quarter (27%) of intermediaries said that experienced advisers are being employed, while 17% stated that their company is hiring more trainee advisers. A similar proportion, 16%, noted that additional paraplanners are being utilised to help advisers with paperwork and 12% of the brokers involved in the research said that ‘other staff’ are bolstering headcounts where they work.
In addition, a quarter of mortgage intermediary businesses are expanding operations with new or enhanced marketing and a further 23% are investing in additional technology.
The growth reported reflects the growing optimism amongst mortgage intermediaries.
89% of brokers feel either confident or very confident about the mortgage industry, up from 70% six months ago, while the same amount (89%) are confident about the intermediary market, up from 79% in the winter.
91% are confident about their own firm's prospects, up from 85% in the previous report, while 65% are positive about the buy-to-let market, up from 49% last year.
Louisa Sedgwick, commercial director for mortgages at Paragon Bank, said: “It’s great to hear that brokerages are growing. Some are boosting their workforce numbers while others are upskilling existing staff, an approach that ultimately increases the expertise in the sector. In addition, we see that some firms are investing in marketing or technology, helping them to secure and service more business effectively.
“Committing to expanding suggests that intermediary firms feel confident about the future. This is something that our report supports, also highlighting how the brokers we spoke to are now notably more optimistic about various facets of business compared to the start of the year. Having direct relationships with clients, the people who are investing in property, means that brokers have an up-to-date picture of the current strength of the market, so an increase in optimism is an encouraging indicator for the rest of the sector.”
