Three or four new mortgage lenders are set to enter the market this year, Legal & General’s Stephen Smith has revealed.
In a video interview with FTAdviser, the director of the Legal & General Mortgage Club said at least two of the new lenders poised to enter the UK market this year “will make a significant contribution to mortgage lending volumes,” according to .
When asked where these new lenders would be coming from, he said: “It will be a mixture, I would say, of new lenders to the market but also some people returning. Some people who have been out of the market for two or three years.
“We hope to be able to make arrangements with them so that when they come back they will be using the Legal & General Mortgage Club.”
Speaking to FTAdviser’s Emma Ann Hughes, Mr Smith deemed Council of Mortgage Lenders predictions of £195bn of mortgage lending this year, up from £177bn last year, “a bit pessimistic”.
He said Legal & General expected about £200bn plus of mortgage lending this year and a growth in the proportion of business organised through mortgage advisers.
Ultimately, he said he thought 2014 would see the industry return to productivity levels last seen five or six years ago.
Click here to watch the video interview.
