"Our advisers are right at the coalface when it comes to how their customers are feeling about their finances."
- Claire Madge, Sales Director at PRIMIS
Of those surveyed (350), 82% of mortgage brokers expect customer confidence to improve later this year. Notably, brokers in Scotland had the most positive outlook, with 88% holding this belief. In Northern Ireland, 78% thought customer confidence would improve, despite remaining cautious of the ongoing pressures caused by the cost-of-living crisis.
Despite this forecast, some customers continue to feel the weight of household finances – this has been an ongoing trend for the last three years. Two in five advisers said they don’t expect these financial pressures to improve in the coming months.
Claire Madge, sales director at PRIMIS, said: “It’s been a tough few years for British households, but it looks like the pinch of higher food prices, energy costs, and rents & mortgage payments is beginning to lessen. With the prospect of a general election before the year is out, it may be that customers are finally looking forward to the future.
Claire believes the “threat of inflation seems to be ebbing and this latest improvement in the Bank of England’s mood on interest rates bodes well for customers coming up to remortgage later this year.”
Although the Bank of England kept the base rate on hold at 5.25% in March 2024, Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, has indicated that a cut could be on the cards: “That’s not a prediction from me as to what’s going to happen, either on timing or amount, but I am encouraged.”
The prospect of a rate cut later this year could dissuade customers from locking into remortgage rates early, “but with affordability still squeezed this may not be in their best interest,” Claire warned.
“Advisers know that every situation is unique and helping customers to understand the impact of different routes is ever more critical,” she concluded.
