It’s no secret that the pace of digitalisation in the mortgage sector has been slow compared to other financial services sectors like banking or insurance.

By and large, our sector has been reliant on pen and paper for far too long. However, Covid-19 lockdowns have forced the hands for many in the mortgage industry to integrate technology into their businesses.

What was an evolution now shifted into a full technology revolution and transformation out of necessity.

At the beginning of the March lockdown, the industry adapted well to remote working. In just a few short weeks, the mortgage market quickly moved to equip their workforces to operate from home.

Lenders implemented new systems to enable many of their employees to continue as close to business as usual, while handling inbound enquiries on payment holidays.

Advisers were able to continue taking appointments with clients over Zoom, Skype, and FaceTime and maximised their CRM systems to stay on top of client liaison. Similarly, estate agents and developers adapted quickly to offering virtual tours.

This transformation to digital amongst lenders, advisers, and the wider mortgage market is here to stay.

As we embrace new restrictions on our lives, the skills gained and adjustments we made earlier this year will continue to be vital.

Unprecedented demand

Britain’s housing market remains open and buyers will be able to view and move property over the coming weeks.

However, we are now faced with a market experiencing unprecedented demand that is impacting service levels like never before.

Current demand challenges are causing bottlenecks and delays in mortgage applications, affecting borrowers and all those involved in the mortgage journey.

Research from Legal & General Mortgage Club shows consumers are already facing a four month wait to complete their home buying journey.

More than anything, technology will have a vital role in how we respond to this demand and find new ways to streamline mortgage applications.

Streamlining applications

A key part in addressing the operational challenges facing our market will be removing unnecessary work carried out on mortgage applications where borrowers simply won’t fit lending criteria.

Advisers constantly have to follow updates when what they need are quick answers to help them find the lenders that can support their clients.

That’s why Legal & General has now launched SmartrFit, a powerful mortgage criteria search tool and affordability calculator for advisers.

With the multitude of updates to mortgage lending criteria during the pandemic, SmartrFit utilises lenders’ own affordability and lending criteria, helping advisers find the right products quickly and accurately.

The tool also allows advisers to see why a particular lender was a match, which helps to evidence selections for particular products. SmartrFit will first launch for residential mortgages, with buy-to-let mortgages following early next year.

Affordability calculator

Others are also following suit and understand that there is a clear and present opportunity for technology to assist the industry. Darlington Building Society recently launched its enhanced affordability calculator, powered by Legal & General.

The new calculator reviews borrower affordability and cross-references this information against a broad range of Darlington’s lending criteria, including maximum loan amount and loan-to-value ratio.

Advisers are then effectively provided with a quick decision as to whether a borrower fits key criteria, saving valuable time at what is a very busy period for the mortgage market.

Insight and intelligence

Tools like these not only help drive operational efficiencies, but they also provide insight and intelligence into where demand currently lies in the mortgage market as well, and the types of borrowers that advisers are seeking solutions for.

his is valuable data which can then be played back to the lender, allowing them to quickly understand areas of opportunity which they can then feed into product development plans. By streamlining the process, borrowers and advisers get quicker decisions and lenders save time and gain insights into future product planning.

Technology has the potential to play such a critical role and it shouldn’t just be a long-term goal for businesses.

Creating a more seamless mortgage journey has clearly never been more important for our sector than it is today. The mortgage market is experiencing unprecedented demand and we have a unique opportunity to harness technology to improve the service we offer.

There is an exciting future ahead for the advised mortgage industry. Legal & General is committed to investing in technology for a better advised mortgage journey and SmartrFit is just the start, we are excited about what the future holds.

Kevin Roberts is director of Legal & General Mortgage Club