Mortgage Advice Bureau has confirmed that Danny Belton is to replace Brian Murphy as head of lending at the brokerage.

Murphy is set to retire at the end of August, after 20 years with the firm. Belton will join from Legal & General, where he has spent 30 years of his career, most recently as head of lender relationships.

The change in leadership is part of a series of updates to MAB’s lending team.

Karina Gerdes has been appointed internally to work alongside Belton to drive the growth of green mortgages and furthering MAB’s ESG plans.

Former MAB proposition director, later life and wealth, Steve Humphries, will take on the new and wider role of proposition director, Mortgages.

Aaron Conlon, currently managing director at Fluent Lifetime, will also join the team working with Humphries.

MAB says this appointment forms part of the decision to bring its later life lending proposition in-house, thereby providing a more inclusive service to its business partners and their customers.

MAB deputy chief executive Ben Thompson says: “After so many years of Brian, it will be sad to see him leave MAB. We wish him every happiness for the future and thank him for his extraordinary efforts in helping MAB to get to where it is today. We will all miss him.

“Separately, this is the right time for MAB to further strengthen its presence in lending, and so I’m delighted to welcome Danny to MAB as our new head of lending. Also, despite the clear 2050 net zero agenda for carbon emissions and the various housing and mortgage-related targets, green mortgages are hardly scratching the surface yet and need to grow. Danny and Karina will work closely in this area and help to stimulate greater momentum, and this is an exciting time to be pushing harder in this space.

“It’s also great that we have strengthened in more specialist areas, such as later life lending. We are keen to provide broader choice for advisers and greater inclusivity for customers through bringing this important area in-house. Appointing Steve into his new role will also help us to help more aspiring first-time buyers, ensure those with more specialist lending needs obtain mortgages, and again find ways for advisers to write more business and help more customers. It’s also great to have Aaron’s expert support alongside Steve, as he broadens his role to help MAB, as well as Fluent Lifetime.

“We are really excited about what these changes mean, and this investment will help us to provide greater support to all our stakeholders, and also grow our market share of new lending further.”

Legal & General Mortgage Club director Clare Beardmore says: “Legal & General Mortgage Club has always championed the importance of collaboration, and we’re looking forward to continuing our work with all our key contacts over what is shaping up to be a busy summer. We’re committed to ensuring all our partners have the support they need and working with them to transform the future of our industry.

“Danny Belton has been at Legal & General for 35 years, and I’d like to personally thank him for all he has contributed to the Mortgage Club during his time with us. We wish Danny nothing but the best with his new role.

“We’re in regular contact with all of our Mortgage Club members, our partners, and our peers in the mortgage industry, and we’ll share more about our plans for the future in the coming weeks.”