Mortgage borrowers still face wait to get advice
26/06/2015
Borrowers are still faced with long waiting times when trying to get an appointment with a mortgage adviser, according to research done by Legal & General.
Even with the introduction of the Mortgage Market Review (MMR), it took on average two weeks to book an appointment with a bank adviser. This has improved since the last survey was carried out on September 2014, but waiting times during the week have remained almost static, only rising slightly from 7.8 days to 7.9 days.
Legal & General surveyed six of the largest high street lenders with branches in London, Manchester, Swindon, Ipswich and Bristol.
Since the introduction of the MMR, banks have been under pressure to train staff to meet the new requirements to ensure those taking out a mortgage have been offered a suitable product. As well as this, the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) meant that bank branches now have less advisers working for them in house, which has lead to longer waiting times for borrowers.
Jeremy Duncombe, Director at Legal & General Mortgage Club, said:
“Our research clearly shows that borrowers still face a considerable wait to secure a mortgage appointment with a bank, despite the MMR being implemented 12 months ago. With activity in the housing market likely to pick up over the coming months, it seems many borrowers will have to wait to see their options and get the advice they need. With historically low interest rates at the moment people will want to move quickly to secure deals so any delay in arranging a mortgage appointment may leave many borrowers frustrated.”
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