Lenders entering the 90 per cent LTV market for limited periods of time is likely to be a continuing pattern, says Accord Mortgages director of intermediary distribution Jeremy Duncombe.

He says that since Accord launched it’s own 90 per cent LTV products, “we’ve had our three busiest ever days and June was the busiest month in our 17-year history.

“For as long as the number of lenders in this space remains low,” he continues, “the capacity of those lenders to process the volume of applications is going to be pushed to the limits.

“We’re likely to see this pattern of entering the market for limited periods of time repeat until more lenders join, and crucially remain, in the 90 per cent market,” he continues.

His comments come not long after he spoke on an industry panel debate hosted by the Power of 8 lender collaboration.

Here, Duncombe said that the reason more lenders weren’t offering products at 90 per cent LTV, “It’s very much a chicken and egg situation. The vast majority of lenders are well funded and have the appetite to lend. It’s capacity which is an issue.”

He explained: “To comply with PRA regulatory requirements, colleagues have had to be moved around to support customer queries on payment deferrals, so there are less people available to underwrite the business. The market is bouncing back… we know the demand is there, it’s just a capacity issue for many lenders.”

The panel, which included Twenty7Tec group sales director Phil Bailey, L&G Mortgage Club head of broker relationships Craig Hall, Equity Release Council chairman David Burrows and Sesame Bankhall Group director of Mortgages Jane Benjamin agreed that currently, mortgage product availability does not meet demand.

Both Hall and Benjamin said that complex cases would become more common and said they wanted to see clarity around how lenders treat borrowers who have been hit by the virus financially.

Benjamin stressed that more understanding was required when it came to income assessment, while Hall called for more transparency for brokers regarding applications from people who have taken a mortgage payment deferral.

Optimism was something all panel members shared. Benjamin concluded: “This is a golden opportunity for brokers to support their customers and their customer’s family and friends. For the first time in years more product transfers have been written by intermediaries than gone direct. Continue to proactively contact your customers and look after them.”