Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Newsroom from a report by Mortgage Solutions. Read the original article for full details.
Mortgage advice debate: no case is 'vanilla'
A star letter published by Mortgage Solutions has sparked debate over whether any mortgage case can genuinely be described as 'vanilla'. The comments came in response to a story from BMPS 2026 arguing that brokers should not give up on vanilla mortgage cases.
Will Hale, CEO of Key Advice and Air, welcomed contributions from Mark Harrington, CEO of L&C Mortgages, Clare Beardmore, director of Mortgage Club at Legal & General, and Peter Brodnicki, CEO of Mortgage Advice Bureau, who made the case for advice across all types of mortgage business. However, Hale said he is not convinced that references to 'vanilla cases' help the sector as it defends against lender-direct and technology-driven execution-only models. In his view, the industry should be challenging whether any mortgage transaction is actually 'vanilla'.
Beyond the lowest rate
Hale argued that approaches based purely on finding the lowest cost of borrowing or rate are open to competitive pressure from outside the traditional intermediary sector, or at the very least subject to margin erosion. Good mortgage advice, he said, should look far beyond just the mortgage itself.
A mortgage is just one element of the personal balance sheet. When taking out or reviewing a mortgage, consideration should be given to protection and general insurance needs, pension saving, future asset decumulation strategies, wills and lasting powers of attorney, and intergenerational wealth transfer options.
Moving from transactional to relationship advice
Hale said he was more aligned with Peter Brodnicki's comment that firms "can't just be a transactional business" and must extend their business models to be involved in everything a customer needs. For Hale, this means consigning the term 'broker' to the past and offering true holistic advice, albeit centred around the mortgage.
Simple 'broking', he warned, is at risk from digital disruptors and disintermediation. Some larger distributors may see opportunity in the digital execution-only space, playing to customer demand for low-cost self-serve options despite the absence of protections. For most advisers, however, moving from a transactional model to a relationship approach will support better customer outcomes and offer commercial benefits. Being stuck in the middle and defending the status quo, he cautioned, is likely to be a dangerous strategy.
The over-55s opportunity
Hale highlighted the over-55s market as particularly relevant. Annual lending to this cohort sits at £60bn when including product transfers, against an opportunity where over-55s own around £4trn of unencumbered property wealth. With modern lifetime mortgages representing under 5% of total lending to this cohort, he suggested advice approaches have not evolved from traditional broking models. He added that holistic advice is needed to support better customer outcomes and that the regulator can be expected to act.
Technology and the human touch
In a separate comment responding to a story on the broker-lender model, Daniel Baguley, regional underwriter at Bluestone Mortgages, said no one should want the human advice end of the journey to go away. Technology, he said, should optimise and shorten the entire end-to-end journey rather than replace humans.
Source: Mortgage Solutions