Mortgage and Property Report July 2020

Welcome to the second 2020 edition of the Mortgage and Property Report. In this issue, we look at how the wider mortgage market has fared through the COVID-19 crisis. We examine how new lending has been impacted and what the recovery might look like, as well as what the changes in the industry, both temporary and permanent, mean for lenders and customers and the future of the sector.

Key Highlights

• The Covid-19 crisis temporarily shut down the house purchase market, and while demand bounced back quickly, the slow recovery in product availability in some segments means not all pent-up demand is being met
• The need to react to hurdles brought on by the lockdown led lenders to implement technological changes very quickly in an industry which has historically been slow to adapt to digital developments
• The crisis has caused fluctuations in demand for different types of properties, e.g. for holiday lets and student accommodation, as well property types and location, some of these changes are expected to be long-term as customers’ lifestyles adapt to a new normal