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The results from Shawbrook’s mid-year Broker Barometer are in!

While nobody can predict the exact course of the pandemic and its future impacts, there is reason to remain hopeful, and even excited, for the future of the buy-to-let market.

Birmingham and London-based Offa, the UK’s first Shariah-compliant bridging finance provider, has just joined the Connect Mortgages panel.

Holiday let products have grown rapidly in popularity over the past year as tax benefits and a staycation boom in combination with lockdown savings have tipped would-be investors into action.

The pandemic has affected the commercial mortgage market far more than other mortgage markets, particularly in sectors such as hospitality. As a result, lenders became more cautious with their criteria, such as lower LTVs or declining applications from certain sectors.

The pandemic has highlighted the cumbersome and slow process often found in the mortgage market. As a result, it has been great to see advisers and mortgage lenders adopt innovations such as electronic ID and desktop valuations to improve this.

However, with the stamp duty deadlines, the services from solicitors have been impacted. This spotlight has shown up some of the slow and archaic procedures in the legal part of the transaction.