The Mortgage Advice Model Must Change In 2026

By Haydn Thomas, CEO of Cornerstone Finance Group

The mortgage market is entering a period where volume alone is no longer the defining measure of success. Economic conditions are easing, confidence is returning, and lenders are competing hard for business. But beneath that activity, a more important shift is taking place. The question for mortgage firms is no longer simply how many deals they can complete, but what role they play in their clients’ wider financial lives.

The direction of travel on interest rates and inflation has helped stabilise sentiment. While uncertainty has not disappeared, the outlook has become clearer, and that matters. In the mortgage market, confidence never collapsed, but there were periods where decisions were delayed, particularly at the higher end of the housing market. Those pauses inevitably filtered down. Now, as conditions improve, that pent-up activity is beginning to move.

What makes this period different is the scale of refinancing activity. A record number of fixed-rate deals are coming to an end, with around 1.8 million borrowers needing to remortgage or transfer products. Predictions suggest remortgaging volumes will rise by around 10 per cent, with product transfers also increasing. That level of activity will keep the mortgage market busy in its own right, regardless of what happens to purchase volumes.

Lenders are already positioning themselves accordingly. Competition has intensified, pricing has sharpened, and there is greater flexibility around affordability and income assessment. Salaries have not kept pace with property values, and lenders have had to adapt. From a borrower’s point of view, this is supportive. From an adviser’s point of view, it creates both opportunity and challenge.

For many mortgage firms, the temptation will be to see this as a year defined by remortgage transactions. In my view, that would be a mistake. The refinancing wave should be treated as a trigger for deeper engagement, not an end in itself. This is where the distinction between a broker and an adviser becomes clear.

A broker completes a transaction. An adviser builds a relationship. An adviser uses that moment of contact to ensure fact finds are up to date, to understand a client’s family circumstances, and to look beyond the mortgage itself. That includes reviewing protection, checking home and contents insurance, and addressing under-insurance, which remains common. It also means recognising when a client is self-employed or running a business and understanding the broader financial implications of that and the opportunities to offer support around commercial finance and insurances.

This does not require every adviser to become a specialist in every area. What it does require is the mindset that mortgage advice sits within a wider financial context. Advisers who are prepared to develop specialist skills, or build strong referral networks around them, are far better placed to support clients properly. Those relationships create trust, and trust is what sustains businesses as economic conditions shift.
I am confident that firms operating in this way will find the current environment works in their favour. Those that continue to operate narrowly, focusing on rate-driven transactions alone, may find it increasingly difficult to stand out.

The scale of refinancing activity we are seeing is unusual. It will not present itself in the same way again next year. Firms that fail to adapt now risk falling behind those that already have.

None of this is to suggest that uncertainty has disappeared. Global events can disrupt even the most positive outlook, and markets can change quickly. But there is genuine momentum. Investor confidence remains strong, lenders are active, and conditions for borrowers are improving.

What we are seeing is not just a busy period for the mortgage market, but a test of its operating model. Quality of advice, depth of relationship and client focus will matter more than volume alone. The firms that recognise that shift, and act on it, are the ones most likely to strengthen their position as the market evolves.