322. Insights: Are mortgages broken?

David and Jeff take a close look at mortgages, a painful process Jeff recently went through. Research shows that people who have gone through the process felt stressed, lost sleep, half of the couples rowed over the process and 1 in 10 couples stopped having sex! Furthermore, 1 in 10 sought GP help due to effects on mental health. What is broken here?

The duo is joined by a panel of fantastic guests to tell us more about the mortgages market, why some of these challenges exist and what changes are coming:

• Maria Harris – Director of Intermediary Lending, Atom
• Toril Steinmo – Head of Loans, DNB
• Dan Hegarty – CEO, Habito
• Vadim Toader – CEO, Proportunity

The panel discusses how applying for mortgages is one of the most stressful processes in our lives, as humans have integral anxiety about shelter for themselves and their family. The panel argues that the product is not built around the consumer’s needs, but rather quite simple data made incredibly opaque. Vadim Toader explains the process like planning a wedding, you don’t have any prior knowledge about the process, and hopefully, when you have done it once you don’t have to think about it ever again.

Thoril Steinmo explains how the process is very different in Norway, and the panel asks, what is inhibiting the UK to have the same process as they do in Norway? Is there an urgent need for a clearer and more transparent language that customer actually understands?

All this and so much more on today’s show.

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This week’s episode was produced by Laura Watkins and edited by Alex Woodhouse.

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