Lenders had to respond fast to the Covid-19 pandemic to cope with high levels of mortgage payment holiday applications followed by increased demand for mortgage lending.
As an example, over the past three months Lloyds Banking Group has received more mortgage applications than any time since the lending peak of 2008.
Most of the lenders we spoke to said the majority of staff are working from home unless they cannot or would prefer to work in the office or for some business-critical roles. Most branches have stayed open on reduced hours.
At Skipton, 85% of the new lending team are working remotely. Some people are working in its Covid secure head office for either practical or wellbeing reasons. For example, those who live in and around the Yorkshire Dales National Park don’t always have a good broadband connection.
Lloyds Banking Group said that during lockdown, it went from around 15,000 regular home workers to almost 50,000 overnight while keeping branches and contact centres open.
All mortgage staff at Santander are working remotely, with the exception of in-branch mortgage and protection advisers.
At Accord Mortgages, the majority of staff are working from home and communicating with brokers via virtual meetings, email, phone and webchat. Customer services staff who answer customer-facing telephone lines are in the office, as are the underwriting teams.
Kensington Mortgages transferred the whole business of 400 staff to remote working within a week.
Craig McKinlay, new business director at Kensington, said:
“There is 100% capability to work from home. There are a few people who, due to personal circumstances, need to be in the office, but there is no obligation and working remotely is encouraged.”
Everyone at The Mortgage Lender has been working from home since February and its Glasgow office isn’t currently open as it feels it is safer working remotely. Its mortgage operations director Scott Callaghan, said team meetings over the telephone haven’t worked but video calling has been a fantastic tool for the business. He commented:
“Video has allowed daily huddles, team meetings and 121s to run as smoothly as if we were in the office. We’ve also been able to have some fun with staff quizzes, Halloween bake-offs and general well-being calls between teams.”
Shelley Connelly, head of underwriting at Masthaven Bank, said colleagues were given the option of volunteering to return to the office a couple of days a week. But following the second national lockdown, the volunteer scheme was put on hold and most colleagues are now working remotely.
Challenges lenders face under pandemic conditions
The Building Societies Association noted that one of the challenges to home working relates to leading and managing teams that are remote and ensuring staff wellbeing – both physical and mental.
Masthaven’s Shelley Connelly believes the biggest challenge has probably been colleagues’ emotional wellbeing and mental health. She said:
“Not everyone has a home office space and we know some people are working from kitchens and living rooms, which isn’t ideal. With lockdown requiring us to spend most of our time inside, this can have an effect on our mental health.
“We are mindful of the impact these restrictions have on our colleagues and have encouraged everyone to think about their work routines, to think about how they can accommodate exercise in their schedules and pay extra attention to wellbeing as we enter the darker months.
“We also have an employee assistance programme which has lots of great advice and support materials available, and offer colleagues support with display screen equipment requirements.”
Peter Izard, business development manager at Investec Private Bank, commented:
“Collaboration with colleagues I would say is the greatest challenge. Face to face human contact is so critical for all of us and whilst remote working has been highly successful it cannot replace this essential ingredient.”
The Mortgage Lender mortgage operations director Scott Callaghan agreed:
“TML has a fantastic people focused culture and not being able to interact face to face is a challenge. I for one miss the buzz of the mortgage operations shop floor. But we are staying in touch with all of our colleagues to keep our culture and vibe alive.
“In terms of the market, the biggest challenge was the virtual shutdown of the market when the Covid pandemic broke. This presented a number of challenges, for example, with physical valuations. We responded by introducing AVMs, which helped us continue to support borrowers.”
Craig McKinlay, new business director at Kensington Mortgages, agreed the lack of physical valuations of properties during the first lockdown was a challenge. He added:
“The most challenging aspect of working under pandemic conditions is the need for prompt reaction to any government and regulatory announcements, for example, any news regarding payment holidays, lockdowns etc.”
With the end of the stamp duty holiday and Help to Buy schemes on 31 March 2021, and an extension of the mortgage payment holiday option, there is no let-up on the challenges lenders continue to face.
