Each week, the editorial team of Mortgage Solutions will select our highlights of the week for your enjoyment.
We kick off this week’s editor’s picks with some interesting research from Centre for Cities on “new towns” and how much of a role they will play in Labour’s ambitious housebuilding pledge.
The research showed that building new towns, like Milton Keynes, in the last 40 years has made up 3.3% of English housing stock, delivering around 307,000 houses. This means that new towns may only make up a small part of Labour’s one-and-a-half million home pledge.
Next in our editor’s picks is the latest Diversity and Inclusivity Finance Forum (DIFF) podcast featuring Alan Longhorn, head of sales, distribution and marketing at Bank of Ireland, and Liz Syms, CEO and founder of Connect Mortgages, talking about how they got into the mortgage industry and how age and education should not be a barrier to someone doing a job.
Specialist Lending Solutions’ interview with Jon Hall, group managing director for mortgages and savings at OSB Group, said that areas of growth for the firm would be commercial, bridging and product transfers.
Research from Moverly also showed that the UK has the slowest housing transaction process out of 12 nations, taking an average of 179 days or six months for a sale to complete.
Quilter’s research showing that the number of young people securing a mortgage falling by 13% in the past two years is also interesting, if concerning, and raises questions about the efficacy of certain first-time buyer schemes, the firm said.
DIFF podcast: If you’re good enough to do a job, then you’re old enough – Longhorn
UK has ‘slowest’ housing transaction process, research finds
Number of young people securing a mortgage has dropped 13% since 2021, Quilter says
Anna is currently the deputy editor for Mortgage Solutions and editor for Specialist Lending Solutions. She has worked as a journalist since 2019, having secured her Gold Standard NCTJ diploma from News Associates in a fast-track six-month course.
She started her career as a report at specialist publication The Insurance Insider covering a wide range of areas before joining Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions in 2021.
In her role, she helps put together and structure the news agenda for the day and writes up press releases, reports, interviews, analyses and exclusives across both titles. She also commissions blogs for Specialist Lending Solutions and hosts online masterclasses and in-person events across the business.
She has been shortlisted for three journalism awards, which include BIBA Journalist and Media Awards Scoop of Year Award in 2020, Headline Money Mortgage Journalist of the Year Award (B2B) in 2022 and 2023.
Prior to being a journalist, Anna worked in ecommerce across Snow + Rock, Cycle Surgery and Runners Need websites, and before that worked at specialist financial PR firm Rostrum.
In her spare time, Anna enjoys reading, seeing live music, and cooking for friends and family. When she gets a chance, she also enjoys hiking, skiing and indoor rock climbing.
