A different beast
Ashley Lambert (pictured top left), mortgage and protection adviser at Your Mortgage Hub, told Mortgage Introducer the World Cup presents a distinct challenge compared to other seasonal disruptions such as holidays or heatwaves, partly because of its scale and the extra time it occupies in the calendar.
“When it comes to a World Cup, it’s a different beast because the whole nation sort of stops depending on how far we progress,” Lambert said. “This particular World Cup does run from what has been the norm of 32 days to 39, so it’s an extra week in there as well, which definitely slows things down.”
Lambert drew a clear distinction between which client groups are most likely to disengage. In his view, older home movers – those already on the property ladder and considering a move – are the most vulnerable to distraction, driven by nostalgia for past tournaments.
“The older generation who are home movers will tend to freeze,” he said. “They’ve probably followed England through successes in the past and remember tournaments such as Euro 96, have some nostalgia attached to the England team, and therefore follow it religiously.”
First-time buyers, by contrast, are unlikely to go quiet in the same way. “I don’t anticipate the younger generation freezing as much, just because they’ve not had the highs of England in the past. They’ll probably still watch the game, but they can probably recover from a nice drink and still be in the headspace of looking to buy their first home.”