All Aboard Accord - February 2025

In this month’s issue we’re talking First-Time Buyers. See how Accord can help your FTB clients with our ￡5K Deposit Mortgage, which is now available for flats.??

You can listen to our second Mortgage Mentors Podcast and read about the improvements we’ve made off the back of our last Broker feedback Survey.? Plus, we've also partnered with Snugg to offer tools and solutions which can help your clients improve their home’s energy performance.? There’s also changes to Retirement Age and finally, the latest content from our Growth Series.

Our ￡5K Deposit Mortgage is now available for flats

We’re excited to let you know that we’ve enhanced our ￡5K Deposit Mortgage proposition to now include flats. This is great news for both you and your clients and will help even more first-time buyers onto the property ladder.??

Here’s how your first-time buyer clients could purchase their first home with our ￡5K Deposit Mortgage:?

• Available for LTVs over 95% up to a max of 99%?
• Applies to residential house and flat purchases over ￡100K and up to ￡500K (excludes new build properties)?
• At least one applicant must be a first-time buyer
• Accord’s higher credit score must be met

Hear from Laura Mackay at Gail Reid Mortgages about how our ￡5K Deposit Mortgage helped her first-time buyer clients.?

Find out more about our First Time Buyer propositions

Mortgage Mentors Podcast with Jeremy Duncombe and Esther Dijkstra

In our second Growth Series Mortgage Mentors series podcast, Jeremy Duncombe, Managing Director at Accord Mortgages chats with Esther Dijkstra, Managing Director for Lloyds Banking Group, where they explore Esther’s career journey, leadership insights and perspectives on the evolving mortgage landscape.?

From Esther’s humble beginnings in a Dutch village to becoming a global leader in the mortgage industry, this episode will take you through the pivotal milestones in Esther’s career, exploring topics of resilience, adaptability, current market insights and more.??

If you have enjoyed our Mortgage Mentors podcast series so far, then we also recommend signing up to the Working in Mortgages Mentoring Programme in association with IMLA and AMI. Click here for more information.?

Listen to podcast #116 now

Read about the difference your feedback has made

Last year we surveyed our broker community to gather your valuable feedback to help us refine our criteria, service, and online tools to better align with your needs and expectations. Plus, for every response received, we donated to our charity partner, raising an incredible ￡3,000 for FareShare.?Thank you for making a difference!?

We're pleased to share the key improvements you helped us make in this handy infographic.??

Click here for infographic

Help your existing Accord clients improve their energy performance?

We've?partnered with Snugg, an expert in the field of energy efficiency that offers tools and solutions to help homeowners improve their home's energy performance. When discussing additional borrowing for home improvements, you can direct clients to?Snugg | Save energy at home. This client tool provides:?

• Insights into the current and potential energy performance of their home?
• Personalised recommendations and advice based on home assessments?
• An eligibility checker for government grants and funding?
• The ability to search for and connect with trusted local installers, via Trustmark?
• A work verification section to note completed work and its impact on their home, and more.?

Visit Snugg on the link below to find out more about them.

Snugg Tool

Changes to Retirement Age?

We've made a few small tweaks to align our maximum age criteria across Residential and Buy to Let. Now, the maximum age at the end of the term for Residential is 80 years + 364 days, (excludes ￡5K Deposit Mortgage where the term will end at 70 years) and for Buy to Let it's 85 years + 364 days.

We've also aligned the retirement age across both Residential and Buy to Let, which is now set at 70 years + 364 days or declared retirement age, whichever comes first. These changes took effect on February 19th.?

The Accord Growth Series

Our Growth Series is here to help you grow your business. If you’re not already, why not join the 10,000 brokers already registered – sign up here.

?Check out our latest Growth Series content:

• Podcast #117 UK Mortgage Market, Year in Review and Forecasts for 2025
• Supporting future clients on their first mortgage application
• AI and the future of customer service
• What we expect to see from AI this year?
• Podcast #115 Broker Talks: Reflecting on the role of self-serve??
• Attracting emerging talent as a brokerage?

Sign up to the Growth Series