Specialist property finance has seen greater interest from brokers over the last five years but from a low base and there is plenty of scope for growth.

This was the view of Pilot Fish CEO Richard Jones speaking at the Mortgage Business Expo 2023 (MBE) in London this week.

A host of surveys in recent years indicate that brokers are seeing more complex cases than ever before and that consequently the specialist mortgage market should see continued growth.

Jones insisted that brokers had good reason to come into this market in order to increase revenue.

“For many brokers it is a commercial opportunity; and it is a similar process to what they normally do just more knowledge required.”

Aspen Bridging credit analyst and Orpheus Properties founder of Richard Coombs pointed out at the same MBE seminar that there has always been a hesitancy amongst brokers to get involved in the specialist sector but stressed it was important to remember that it is still just a mortgage.

Jones said one issue that was not helping brokers was the lack of consistency in products’ terms within speciality property finance.

Lendinvest commercial director Sophie Michell-Charman agreed that consistency of product messaging was an issue but added that the priority going forward was to ensure brokers were given the resources and support in what is a complex space. “We need to educate the broker even if that mean the deals goes elsewhere”.

And for new brokers entering the market Michell-Charman insisted the first port of call should be a face-to-face with a business development manager. “Our response is. ‘yes, come to us, there is a whole criteria you can look at. There is a massive need for bridging and it is important to explain to brokers that it is a solution to an end goal.”