There is no doubt that the events of 2020 could not have been foreseen by even the most clued-in analysts.
The year began full of hope, with expectations of a boom in the mortgage market as it began to recover from years of uncertainty surrounding Brexit. But by March the country was locked down as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and the mortgage sector came to a standstill.
However, what looked set to be an abysmal year for the industry turned around quickly once the market reopened and buyers rushed to take advantage of government incentives, such as the stamp duty holiday. And now, with the new version of Help to Buy, the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme, confirmed in early March and high-LTV products that were scarce at the height of the pandemic flooding back onto the market, 2021 looks set to be one of the busiest on record for the mortgage industry.
But what will happen after the pent-up demand dissipates? Could we see the market crashing down when the stamp duty holiday finally ends? It has proved resilient before but this is new territory for the mortgage industry and the market is changing. Select lenders are offering mortgage terms of up to 30 and 40 years, so we may see others follow suit or innovate in other ways to accommodate the requirements of borrowers, many of whom have changed how they work during the pandemic.
In this supplement, we look at what the mortgage market has overcome and how it can continue to thrive in the new, post-pandemic world.
