The steps taken to lessen the impact of Covid-19 on the housebuying process have taxed lenders’ systems and business models considerably. In being forced by circumstance to implement new ways of working, however, many report changes for the better.

HSBC UK head of buying a home Michelle Andrews talks of mortgage payment holidays, which UK Finance says that, as of 28 April, one in seven homeowners has been offered.

“We have enabled over 60,000 payment holidays so far, and we continue to receive requests from customers who will benefit from pausing their payments,” says Andrews.

“Where we see a customer has cancelled their direct debit, we contact them to see if it was a mistake or intended, asking them if they need a payment holiday.

“This has received positive feedback from those customers who may not have been expecting this level of detail and care from a big bank. There is a perceived lack of agility with being a large provider, and there is undoubtedly some truth to that; there are procedures that we would need to go through that much smaller providers don’t want to or need to.”

In part because of this, Andrews adds, developing the procedures required to offer mortgage payment holidays on such a large scale – with all of the associated regulatory work, assessment of financial impact and governance pro-cedures – in just two weeks was a Herculean task.

The impact of Covid-19 has also resulted in more flexibility from lenders. Lloyds Banking Group managing director of intermediaries and specialist brands Mike Jones says: “Customers on payment holidays are still able to apply for a product transfer so that they have access to the best possible rates, and we have also extended existing mortgage offers by three months to support customers completing their home purchase and remortgaging.”

Aside from mortgage payment holidays, arguably the biggest change in the housebuying process lies in how valuations are carried out. It is difficult to find a lender that has not moved to desktop and automated valuation models in recent weeks and, while these are currently limited to the lower end of LTVs, some think they are here to stay.

“Not only do they speed up the mortgage process,” says Kensington Mortgages new business director Craig McKinlay, “but they are accurate through their combination of mathematical modelling and existing property transaction datasets.

“Most were already in use by several lenders before Covid-19, so the latest developments mean AVMs will become mainstream – especially for pre-existing properties and lower-LTV cases.”

OneSavings Bank group managing director for mortgages Alan Cleary, meanwhile, says his firm has “launched a set of products using AVMs for bridging finance and second charge loan applications”, as well as the usual residential and buy-to-let fare.

And it is not just AVMs that could be sticking around once this has all calmed down. Accord Mortgages director of intermediary distribution Jeremy Duncombe opines that, although many changes to business have been forced upon lenders, “I think it’s fair to say we’ve also introduced efficiencies and improved ways of working that will stay with us when we return to whatever the new normal will be.

“Less travel, more video meetings, inc-reased use of technology… will all feature in our future plans,” he says.

Duncombe adds that this is not a one-way street. He says: “Brokers have really embraced our webchat facility as a more effective way of getting answers.… Not only is there an audit trail of the conversation for the broker’s file, but we’re able to share links and information directly to the broker and streamline the process, allowing us to be a lot more proactive with our brokers. This insight is likely to transform how we work in the future.”

Meanwhile, Landbay managing director of intermediaries Paul Brett mentions that his firm has put “more emphasis on the digital application process and electronic signatures… together with innovations in the legal process”.

Indeed, earlier this month the Equity Release Council modified its guidelines to allow contact time between legal advisers and potential borrowers to be completed remotely.

Finally, not all changes have been purely focused on getting people into new homes.

“As with all financial services companies, there are small sums of money in Kensington accounts owed to former customers who cannot be traced due to insufficient information being provided – orphaned assets, as they are labelled by the regulators,” says McKinlay.

“The money is ringfenced and, after a number of years, companies are asked to distribute their unclaimed orphan assets to charitable causes. It is not our money, but it is our duty to act as a responsible steward of the assets.

“We have therefore used some of this money [£500,000] to help supply equipment to NHS trusts and also to mental health charities and food banks, to support critical frontline institutions during this unprecedented national crisis.”