Why is it so important to talk about innovation in the world of remortgaging?
As reported by Financial Reporter, the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association, a trade association representing the views and interests of UK mortgage lenders and mortgage brokers, predicts that in 2021 we will hit £285bn in mortgage lending – the highest since 2007. This highlighted an array of niggles faced by the customers, especially the length of the process, which may take up to 12 weeks.
Why Does Remortgaging a Property Take So Long?
In short, even though remortgaging means taking out a new mortgage on a property already owned, the process needs to be backed up by a similar conveyancing process as taking out a new mortgage loan. It means that a new set of searches need to be ordered and returned, along with the identity checks, AML checks and proof of funds. Different lenders will have different requirements, which need to be considered before the process begins to complete as fast and as efficiently as possible.
Often, it’s believed that to speed up the process, the property law would need to be changed, or at the very least, reformed. In reality, however, it’s about innovation and bridging the chasm between the world of lending and conveyancing by introducing technology. Up until now, this was being met with a slight resistance, as both lenders and conveyancers wanted to safeguard the compliance of the process and ensure it meets the strict legal requirements of the UK’s property law.
Can Remortgages Be Innovated?
As WeCOMPLETE had already witnessed property completions in under 28 days, we decided to look at remortgage as a process. By reimagining conveyancing, we made technology available to speed up the process of remortgaging by introducing a mortgage-specific workflow for optimum efficiency and transparency. Starting with a conveyancing quoting tool so customers can receive a comparison quote to find a legal team that best suits their case.
WeCOMPLETE makes it possible to coordinate the work of mortgage brokers and conveyancers by providing access to real-time updates, a unique case progression calendar tracking system, which can be viewed by all parties, and the platform for individual and group communication. It means that parties can communicate directly with each other, and every interaction is logged in the system, providing an extra level of transparency. The platform also supports instant document uploads and electronic signatures, which significantly speeds up the completion process as there’s no need for posting documents and waiting for their return.
As a result, we now have access to a piece of technology that enables us to remortgage much more efficiently without compromising compliance and ensuring mortgage brokers get an insight into the case like never before.