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Having seen brokers have one of the most difficult months in the last decade, it is good to see interest rates reducing.  Whilst they will not return to previous lifetime lows, it is to be hoped that we will see fixed rates in the 4% range before we go on the Christmas break.  Although higher than we have seen for some time, this should mean that despite some payment shock, it is well within previously stressed rates and should limit reductions in property values.  BTL remains problematic in parts of the country, but is a live discussion topic with regulators.

Our next Protection Viewpoint, the third year of significant consumer and adviser research, launches on Thursday 3 November.  This has some great new insights from interviews we conducted with consumers.  Join us for the 30 minute virtual launch event at 9.00 for a 9.15 start.  Register here: https://app.livestorm.co/ami-15/the-great-protection-shift.

I am delighted that we have launched two new websites in the last month. The first www.workinginmortgages.org.uk is in response to our Diversity and Inclusion Viewpoint published last year.  This sets out to assist employers and their teams to embrace inclusion.  It is also a window on our industry to allow prospective employees to see what opportunities there might be for them.  Please take the time to have a look, give us feedback and if you want to help us improve what is on there, let us know.

Our other launch is www.greenmortgageadvice.uk which is to help all advisers become better educated on all matters green.   As we move into next year it will be critical that advisers are able to help their customers better understand the possibilities open to them and how to navigate the options for retrofit, funding and legislative and regulatory change.

Also in this month’s round-up, you’ll find information on the latest “win” for the AMI team.  We have been working with our network members to deal with the challenges thrown up by the FCA’s intervention in the Appointed Representative regime.  By careful lobbying, we have secured a significant time extension for the financial and data return due early next year.  Without our voice, life would have been much harder.

Finally, we are now working with UK Finance, the Building Society Association and IMLA to try to establish a baseline of information that will be required under the new Consumer Duty requirements.  We are concerned that a range of consultants appear to be making the tasks more complex than we think they need to be.

We will be producing a suite of factsheets over the next two months to support firms and hope to agree standardised templates for use by lenders and brokers by the end of January 2023.  This will go a long way to meeting the new requirements.  One of the main areas of contention is data required by manufacturers from distribution.  We consider lenders already have the information they need, so more on this as discussions progress.

As we traverse November please keep up the great work you have been doing assisting consumers in confusing times.