Which? Money Reports Increased Customer Mortgage Satisfaction

A survey recently conducted by a magazine, Which? Money, a unit of the British consumer group, Which?, showed that the proportion of UK borrowers who are satisfied with the process of mortgage arrangement increased by 4% (from 58% to 62%) in the course of a year. However, the results of the mortgage research contradict the findings of the Paragon Mortgages study, which showed that UK buy to let landlords find it increasingly difficult to secure a buy to let mortgage when expanding their portfolio. Moreover, the respondents of the Paragon Mortgages poll demonstrated a strong belief in the fact that the situation on UK mortgage market will worsen. Yet, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) was more welcoming towards the findings of the Which? Money research. Commenting on its results, Mr. Michael Coogan, director general of the CML, said that increased customer satisfaction with mortgage arrangement is a good sign. He added that the research shows how fruitful the hard work of UK mortgage lenders, trying to effectively communicate with borrowers, was. On the other hand, the results of the Which? Money survey are to be taken very carefully as, despite the fact that they are based on a sample of 1,915 customers, the numbers associated with each particular lender are relatively modest. The Royal Bank of Scotland scored highest with 53%, Barclays took the second place with 52%, Abbey – 50%, Northern Rock – 47%, and Halifax – 45%. Also, according to CML data, UK gross mortgage lending fell by £1.9 billion (or 13%) from £14.5 billion in July to £12.6 billion in August. However, the Council of Mortgage Lenders claims that the level of lending has stabilised over the summer months with more money being lent for house purchases and less money being lent for remortgages. CML economists, Mr. Paul Samter in particular, do admit that a significant rise in mortgage lending is unlikely to occur in the near future, but it is possible over time.