The last decade has seen the ‘rebirth’ of the specialist sector. The current specialist lenders are more conservative than in the past and are governed by tighter legislation, such as increased capital requirements, making them less vulnerable in the event of a downturn. There have been various reasons for this, with more customers struggling to meet the strict lending criteria of high-street banks. Specialist lenders are able to deal with more complex applications that would normally fall outside the main stream lender’s criteria, for example, someone who doesn’t have a regular stream of income, has recently moved jobs, or is purchasing a right to buy or shared ownership property.

Furthermore, self-employment and contracting are growing. Unusual income patterns have become common, such as those of freelancers or people with varying incomes, etc. Lenders who use credit scoring will often turn these clients away. Specialist lenders build themselves around specific customer groups and are therefore able to help these clients. Also, specialist lenders will help clients who have had a small blip in their credit history, which can usually be easily explained, or due to personal circumstances such as bereavement or unemployment. These individuals are not repeat offenders and have a good history before and after such an event. Unfortunately, the mainstream lender will not see it this way.

The mainstream lender has shown no interest in winning business that falls outside their automated underwriting and is designed to help the conventional borrower. This means that the margins for the specialist sector should remain higher or keep growing.

Richard Tugwell at Together says, ‘In many ways, the specialist market acts as a complement to the mainstream lenders and ensures that the customers have a choice. I think that the challenge for the specialist market is ensuring more consumers are aware of this offering, and that’s something that the lenders and brokers need to work together on.’

Specialist lending is now more regulated, and we should see less volatility than before as the focus is on affordability. This type of lending is set up to cater to complexity, not poor quality or irresponsible lending. Brokers who keep a closed mind to this sector are losing out on a big share of the growing specialist/subprime sector.

Specialised lenders are more suited to adapting to changing criteria compared to high-street lenders. Mainstream lenders take longer to change their criteria due to the legacy systems. Mainstream lenders need to adopt a manual underwriting approach instead of credit scoring. Brokers need to ask or determine what type of lender the client needs. Brokers need to do their own research to get an understanding of this market and take advantage of these opportunities so that they can help every single customer find the best solution for them, whatever their circumstances.

Research has also suggested that people are not fully aware of the options available to them. As traditionally, the market has focused on mortgages for house purchases or cash. It is important that the buyers are made aware of all the options available to them in the market so that they can make informed choices.

Everybody thinks that fraud is the kind of thing that happens to other people rather than themselves. That is, until it takes them well and truly by surprise.

On the plus side, there’s plenty we can all do to significantly reduce the likelihood of being targeted by fraudsters. Or at least, prevent significant damage from being done if you are targeted.

Here are 10 simple yet effective things to start doing right now to protect yourself:

1. Identify scams
   First up, it’s worth reading up on and remaining up-to-date with the latest scams. From e-mail phishing to telephone scams to various types of data theft, it’s worth checking online resources to learn exactly how to identify a scam when you see it.
2. Keep personal information secret.
   Under no circumstances should your personal information ever be given to anyone other than yourself. Be suspicious of any ‘company’ that gets in touch with you and asks for your personal information.
3. Change your passwords and PINs.
   Along with ensuring your passwords and PINs are as strong as possible, it’s also important to ensure that they are changed on a regular basis. Never use anything that could be easily guessed or gradually worked out.
4. Check out your credit report.
   Check your credit report from time to time for any signs of suspicious activity. Should you come across anything suspicious, report it to the relevant authority or service provider immediately.
5. Shred sensitive documents.
   Never make the mistake of throwing away our documents that contain any potentially sensitive personal information. Shred or burn such documents to prevent your personal data from falling into the wrong hands.
6. Watch for unusual activity.
   It’s also important to keep an eye on things like bank statements, credit card bills, and all your online accounts in general for signs of unusual activity. Always take anything, even slightly out of the ordinary, seriously.
7. Share your knowledge.
   Try to ensure that your friends and family members take an equally proactive approach to fraud prevention. Criminals typically have absolutely no shame when it comes to targeting those who are most vulnerable, i.e., those who do least to protect themselves.
8. Be suspicious of everything.
   From phone calls to emails to promotional information, be suspicious of anything and everything that comes your way. Unless you are 100% convinced of the legitimacy of the communication and its source, treat it as suspicious and stay away.
9. Avoid public Wi-Fi.
   Always remember that it only takes a matter of seconds for your device and your personal information to be hacked when using public Wi-Fi connections. which means that if you are going to use a public Wi-Fi connection, avoid accessing any of your accounts or entering any sensitive information or credentials whatsoever.
10. Report it
    Last but not least, each and every time you come across anything that is even remotely suspicious, it needs to be reported. Even if it turns out to be nothing, it is better to be safe than sorry. The problem is that each time suspicious activity is not brought to the attention of the authorities, somebody somewhere is getting away with scamming members of the public like you.

Whatever looms on the economic horizon for the UK, it will inherently spell outright disaster for some and rich pickings for others. In various corners of Europe, political and economic unease is prompting the kinds of headlines that are making investors on a global basis more than a little nervous. But as far as the UK is concerned, Brexit really is the be-all and end-all of things for the time being.

The effect the furore has had on property marketing is no laughing matter. Depending on which side of the fence you’re on, of course.

A new report published by Nationwide found that the past month brought about yet another drop in UK house prices, this time by an average of 0.4%. This is not only the second consecutive month to bring about a fall in property values, but also the largest monthly fall in over five years. As it stands, the average price of a home in the UK now sits at £207,699.

The noted cutback in consumer spending combined with higher inflation and the prospect of Brexit are all having an impact on the housing market. There’s also been a rather dramatic fall in GDP, having fallen to 0.3%. Not the kind of thing that makes for positive reading on the campaign trail.

A two-sided story?

Given the fact that mortgage rates have been hovering around record lows for some time now, the fact that the property market is showing signs of weakness is all the more troubling. This, combined with the fact that unemployment is also at an impressive low, is another factor that should be boosting the strength of the housing market.

But it isn’t, which means for the time being, at least there are a lot of homeowners and investors being forced to watch their properties lose money like there’s no tomorrow. As already mentioned, bad news for some is good news for others.

Obvious, first-time buyers aren’t going to be too upset about the prospect of house prices falling at least a bit. But at the same time, neither are those looking to play the long game. As far as most analysts and economists are concerned, the current doom and gloom will prove to be temporary at best.

For example, if the upcoming general election brings about a strong and trusted new government, things are expected to perk up significantly. Likewise, if Brexit doesn’t turn out to be as disastrous as many expect, it could result in a rapid acceleration of property values. The slight caveat is that by this time, record-low mortgage rates will have no doubt been wiped off the map for good.

So it remains a bit of a catch-22 situation: As is always the case where investments are concerned, Rock-bottom mortgage rates coupled with falling property prices should represent a no-brainer. But given what’s occurred over the last 12 months alone, taking for granted anything that might happen over the next year or so really isn’t the smartest idea.

Any increase in activity Consumer spending can only be considered a positive thing in terms of getting the economy back on its feet. It stands to reason that the more UK products and services the average British consumer decides to invest in, the better the economy will perform as a whole. However, when an increase in public spending leads to excessive levels of personal debt, the situation stops being beneficial and becomes something of a serious economic problem.

According to recent reports, it seems that a large percentage of consumer spending over the last 12 months has been a direct result of increased personal borrowing. In fact, a recent report published by the Bank of England suggests that UK borrowing has gone somewhat out of control during the past year, with borrowing growth exceeding 10% within the past 12 months alone. With most of this figure being attributed to credit card borrowing, the UK banking sector has decided to tighten up on credit card lending across the board in order to help rectify the situation.

The official Bank of England warning states that banks could face an even bigger problem from consumer debt than mortgage lending. However, is this really the fault of the British public? The recent uncertainty following the Brexit vote saw many banks trying to tease consumers back into borrowing by offering some of the lowest credit card rates that the UK has ever seen. With more and more people applying for new credit cards and a similar increase in the rate of approval, almost a third of all credit card lenders have decided that the time has come to reverse the current trend by taking a much more restrictive approach when processing new applications.
Many leading experts are pleased with this decision, claiming that a lack of tighter restrictions could prove to be a serious threat to borrowers and lending facilities.

“The Bank of England will be pleased to see lenders tighten credit scoring criteria for unsecured lending in the first quarter and expect to tighten them significantly further in the second quarter (particularly for credit cards),” said Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS.

“If the fundamentals for consumers do weaken further as expected over the coming months, it is vital that banks adopt tight lending standards in granting unsecured consumer credit, or it risks causing serious debt problems for the economy. This would be reinforced if the Bank of England felt compelled to raise interest rates due to mounting concern over the potential inflation overshoot.”

With the short- and long-term effects of Britain leaving the EU remaining something of an unknown quantity, credit consumers are now being advised to take extra caution before deciding to borrow beyond their means. Although unemployment and interest rates are both at the lowest levels they have ever been, it is impossible to foresee how the situation will change over the next few years. It is therefore essential that borrowers do not get into excessive amounts of unnecessary debt in the meantime.