Lenders and challengers are extending their reach into Scotland, which might see them roll out more products into Northern Ireland, a mortgage specialist has claimed.
Ray Boulger, senior mortgage technical manager for John Charcol, said there were signs that greater competition and choice might be on the cards for Scotland and Northern Ireland when it came to mortgage launches.
He said: "Once some of the new lenders have consolidated their position in Scotland it will be interesting to see if any extend lending to Northern Ireland, where, although a comparatively small market, there is much less competition but also a different property dynamic."
This followed the announcement that specialist lender Bluestone Mortgages has started to offer its full product range across mainland Scotland from November 6.
According to Bluestone management, the move into Scotland is part of the lender's ongoing expansion plans.
Mr Boulger said many lenders start by launching in England and Wales, because of differing legal systems in Scotland.
He said: "Many [lenders] will have an ambition to extend lending throughout the UK but the timing of this expansion will be dictated by many factors.
"Key factors will always be when they have the capacity to increase lending and have made the necessary system changes and new business relationships.
"As several new lenders have launched in the UK over the last few years an increasing number will now have reached that stage in maturity where they are ready to expand into Scotland."
He added another factor might be that, with overall lending only likely to show a small increase in 2018 and with the 2019 market, especially for purchase business, unlikely to show much, if any, growth, lenders have more need to expand their horizons if they want to grow their lending.
Aamina Zafar is a freelance journalist
