Today’s higher inflationary environment appears to have pushed more consumers into the specialist mortgage sector, a new survey of brokers suggests.

It says one in five brokers are now concentrating solely on servicing customers who fall into the specialist category.

Some 60% of brokers who took part in the research for United Trust Bank said that they had written more specialist mortgage cases in the last 12 months as a proportion of their business than they did in the previous year. 17% indicated that more than half of their cases now required a specialist lender.

Headline findings from the survey include:

• 72% of brokers believe the specialist market now presents a bigger opportunity than ever before;

• 60% of brokers are writing more specialist mortgage business than a year ago;

• 81% of brokers said they are seeing more customers with financial blips/adverse credit including defaults and CCJs;

• 81% believe that helping customers with adverse credit is the biggest area of opportunity for brokers in the specialist sector;

• 87% brokers said customers who come to them have usually been turned away by mainstream lenders or other brokers

UTB Mortgages’ survey looks at trends in the specialist residential and Buy-to-Let mortgage market as well as second charge loans. It examines the lending landscape and reveals broker views on challenges they face and potential areas of opportunity for growth, and the importance of education and collaboration between lenders, distributors, packagers and brokers.

Over 130 brokers took part in quantitative research and this was followed by a number of deep-dive calls with individuals to obtain a more detailed understanding of the data collected. The report also includes independent research from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), Registry Trust, UK Finance and the Insolvency Service.

Buster Tolfree, director of mortgages at United Trust Bank, comments:“This report illustrates just how much the specialist mortgage market has evolved in such a short period, albeit with significant economic factors pushing it along.

“Specialist mortgage lending has certainly increased in importance, and its place in the market is only going to grow. For many customers it will be their only route to reaching their property-owning aspirations. Particularly as mainstream lenders are more frequently unable or unwilling to serve borrowers with more complex needs.

“The lender community can do more to help brokers recognise and then take full advantage of the opportunities the specialist lending market has to offer.”