Supporting customers through a confusing process

By Enzo Mora, CEO and founder of The Mortgage Brain

We’re engaging successfully with our customers to help them through an often-confusing home buying process. Many of our customers are buying brand new homes. Some are first-time buyers and others are second steppers, however, both have questions about getting a mortgage.

We’re working with developers to streamline the process and our Keys with Ease webinars are proving a big hit. Our advisers are on hand to speak directly to a group of interested buyers, with a simple step-by-step guide to reserving a property and what they need to do about getting a mortgage. The Q&A at the end is always a lively part of the pre-booked 45 minute session, to which family and friends are also welcome. This also gives us a chance to hear where the knowledge gaps are.

Time to improve the homebuying journey

More than 5,000 people who have bought or sold a home in the past five years have been asked about their experiences, with eight in 10 respondents believing the whole system needs reform and 66% saying they have been put off moving again.

Many underestimate the time involved and being drawn into a process that can take more than six months. Repeated requests for documents also remain a major source of frustration, with 63.6% saying they were asked to provide the same documents two to three times.

The research by the not-for-profit Open Property Data Association, which supports the greater use of data and transparency, says the economic argument for home moving reform is compelling.

Smart data for homebuying could create up to £14.1 billion in net social value and contribute £2.06 billion annually to UK GDP by 2043, according to the Department of Trade and Business. A significant change from last year’s report is that more people (86%) support the adoption of digital property packs, suggesting consumers are ready for a faster, smart data-driven property market.

Construction stuck in a rut

UK construction starts fell in July, according to the latest Glenigan construction index, with a recovery in H2 looking more unlikely. Its July index shows a sector stuck with weak economic growth and geopolitical uncertainty. Residential starts fell by 31% in Q2, with project values slashed in half compared to 2025 levels.

Rising labour and material costs are making developers hesitant to commit shovels to ground until the market stabilises. Starts dropped 40% compared with the preceding three months, finishing 63% lower than a year ago.

However, the forecast predicts that we will see a return to growth next year, as economic conditions improve, alongside an easing in inflationary pressures and interest rates, and as funding from the Spending Review grows.

We should expect to see some bottoming out and revival in Q4, heralding a much-needed larger uptick in new homes in 2027.

Planning applications could speed up

Many of our customers are borrowing to extend their homes, so it’s good to hear that the millions of homeowners waiting for permission to extend their homes, convert lofts or make other improvements could see faster decisions, with two new AI tools introduced to modernise England’s planning system.

They aim to halve the time it takes to process householder planning applications, down from eight to four weeks on average. The new tools are in early-stage testing with Barnet, Camden and Dorset councils.

The prototype triages applications, summarises key information and provides planning officers with an initial assessment they can consider when making their decision.

It has been created by the government, together with Google DeepMind, Google Cloud, Faculty and local planning authorities. Planning officers can convert decades-old planning documents and maps, sometimes with handwritten notes, into readily useable data in minutes.

Householder applications account for nearly 70% of planning applications each year. If successful, the technology will be rolled out nationwide by 2027, which is great news for anyone moving and improving!