Buster Tolfree, United Trust Bank Commercial Director – Mortgages, comments on the FLA figures indicating that the volume of second charge mortgage business transacted in the 3 months to August 2017 increased by 18% year on year.
“This latest set of figures from the FLA is great news for the second charge market and demonstrates how mortgage advisers are increasingly embracing second charges alongside further advances and remortgages.
“As second charges are considered more regularly when advisers are providing best advice, so awareness and understanding of the flexibility and other benefits of second charges will grow amongst consumers. The ultimate goal must be for the general public, and those who provide advice or commentary on mortgage products, to understand second charges just as well as they do first charge mortgages. There is still work to do in changing some common misconceptions of the product and the industry.
“The August lending figures show that the industry has generated new originations of £90m+ for three months on the bounce, the largest quarter of new second charge lending since 2008. The question now is when we will see the first £100m+ month? I don’t think we’ll have to wait too much longer.”