HMRC reaction: "Opinion formers have been talking about momentum - they should be talking about capacity"

30 April 2025

Target Group’s Mel Spencer said:

“Stamp duty deadline aside, with some lenders slashing prices, and others pushing products allowing buyers to borrow on more generous multiples, no wonder transactions are up. Opinion formers have been talking about ‘momentum’. They should be talking about ‘capacity’. If brokers and lenders and conveyancers don’t look at increasing capacity soon, teams that were built for a quieter, slower property environment will start to run too hot in a race that’s more competitive than envisaged a year or two ago. There are two answers. The first is to start hiring furiously, ramping up in the way the sector always has done in the face of up-cycles. That’s a short-term solution and it’s somewhat antediluvian now. The second option is to innovate and invest. Scaling via technology is a far better bet over the medium to long term. The mortgage industry should look at how it is digitising, automating, and embracing AI to deal with higher volumes. My concern is that too many lenders – smaller building societies, in paticular – are trying to duck the question and avoid making the investment.”