The latest news of another national lockdown should do little to slow the momentum of the UK property market, given that official government advice still allows the market to transact.

Billions of pounds in accelerated property transactions are waiting to complete prior to the stamp duty holiday deadline on 31 March.

It would have been wrong for the government to have slammed the door in the face of these homebuyers so close to completion and would have no doubt caused a landslide of property transaction failures and a drop in values had they done so.

Nevertheless another lockdown will increase the demand and requirement for greater efficiency in processing the huge volume of deals currently going through.

The extension of a delay to normal economic and employment patterns will mean that as much time will need to be spent thinking about lending risk as it is ‘doing’ it.

Many lenders have already invested in automation and the digitisation of the origination process and have been quick to embrace other process changes such as AVMs and abandoning wet signatures.

Collecting information

The real competitive advantage however lies in where we use technology to better manage lending risk.

In the future, lending risk management is going to be about understanding organisations’ exposures to people’s income and employment prospects. Where we get that reliable, real-time information is crucial if we are to make better, swifter decisions.

Data accuracy, its timeliness and completeness within systems and processes at a granular level remains the key to more effective and consistent decision-making.

We know different lenders, and even different underwriters at the same lender, ask for varying information in multiple formats that increase the propensity for error from brokers who are submitting information and who are unfamiliar with any one process on offer.

External data can help but only if it answers the questions that underwriters have and does not provoke even more queries.

Open Banking may offer the possibility of unlimited insight into consumer behaviour but it is only useful if we know what to do with that data.  External data adds no real value if lenders then go back to borrowers and brokers for further evidence and corroboration. We may as well have asked them in the first place.

My view is that the interfaces of the future which will be in demand are more likely to be those that help underwriters rather than those specifically aimed at reducing broker rekeying though if it achieves both, then all the better.

Reimagining processes, maximising the opportunities of the available data and delivering a better experience through greater efficiencies should be the long-term objective for every lender.

Understanding the ramifications of the changes we have made already, and will need to make in the future, is a pressing concern.

The measures taken to address the short-term crunch of the initial out-break need to be considered in the light of long-term effectiveness. It’s not always easy to re-invent organisations from the inside and my experience is that fresh eyes can add value.

Tim Hague is managing partner at Sagis