Information has never been more accessible, yet confidence in financial services remains relatively low. As technology continues to reshape the market, the value of mortgage advice may increasingly come from helping customers make decisions over time rather than simply providing information.
Much of the mortgage industry’s attention continues to focus on rates. Every movement is analysed, every forecast is debated and every product change attracts discussion. Rates clearly matter, particularly when affordability remains such an important consideration for many households, but I think there is a broader shift taking place that deserves just as much attention.
For many years, a significant part of the value provided by the industry came from access to information. Advisers helped customers navigate complex products, understand lender criteria and make sense of a market that could often feel difficult to navigate. That expertise remains important, but the environment around it is changing.
Customers today have access to more information than at any point in the past. They can research products, compare options, access affordability tools and increasingly use AI-powered services to answer questions that previously required a conversation with a professional.
At the same time, confidence has not necessarily increased. FCA Financial Lives research continues to highlight relatively low levels of confidence in financial services, suggesting that access to information and confidence in decision-making are not necessarily the same thing.
“That distinction feels increasingly important.”
That distinction feels increasingly important. Recent market data presents a picture that is more nuanced than many headlines suggest. Bank of England approval figures indicate that activity remains relatively resilient despite higher borrowing costs.
Zoopla’s latest research points to softer buyer demand, but also continued progress in agreed sales. Housebuilders continue to highlight the affordability challenges facing first-time buyers, while looking for ways to support customers through those pressures.
COMPLEX DECISIONS
When viewed together, these developments suggest a market that remains active, but one where customers often require more support in navigating increasingly complex decisions.
We are seeing some of this at Heron. Increasingly, conversations are starting much earlier in the customer journey than they might have done previously. In many cases, customers are not looking for a mortgage immediately.
They are trying to understand what might be possible, what obstacles they need to overcome and what options may be available to them in the future.
That often involves education around affordability, specialist lending or simply helping customers understand how different decisions may affect their plans.
The mortgage itself remains important, but the conversation increasingly starts well before an application is submitted.
The challenge facing many borrowers is no longer limited to finding a mortgage product. Affordability, household budgets, protection, long-term financial resilience and housing aspirations are becoming increasingly interconnected.
Customers rarely experience these as separate decisions. More often, they form part of a wider picture that evolves over time.
“I think that has important implications for where value sits within the mortgage market.”
I think that has important implications for where value sits within the mortgage market. As information becomes easier to access, the ability to support decision-making becomes increasingly important. The adviser, lender, housebuilder or technology provider that remains relevant throughout a customer’s journey may ultimately create more value than the organisation that simply provides information at a single point in time.
That is where customer relationships become strategically important.
Historically, many businesses have focused on individual transactions. In today’s environment, continuity may matter more. The firms that engage with customers earlier, support them through periods of uncertainty and remain connected as circumstances change are likely to be in a stronger position than those whose involvement begins and ends with a mortgage application.
REAL REALTIONSHIPS
Technology and AI are likely to play an important role in that shift. Much of the discussion understandably focuses on efficiency, automation and productivity.
Those benefits are real, but I think the more interesting opportunity lies in helping businesses maintain meaningful engagement at scale.
Used well, technology can help customers access information more easily, but it can also help firms provide education, guidance and support throughout a much longer relationship. In that sense, technology may strengthen human advice rather than reduce its importance.
Rates will continue to influence the market and affordability will remain a central challenge for many customers.
However, my instinct is that some of the most significant changes are happening elsewhere.
Information is becoming more accessible, customer needs are becoming more interconnected and trust remains something that must be earned over time.
In a market where information is free, relationships may be the only thing left to compete on.