The Intermediary – May 2025 - Flipbook - Page 82
T E C H N O L O GY
Opinion
First-time buyers,
friction points,
and the future
T
he UK housing market
has always had its
ups and downs, but
thankfully there
have been far more
ups than downs. As a
business, we have the benefit – and
responsibility – of seeing the market
from a truly national perspective.
From Scotland to the South Coast,
we’re seeing the same themes emerge.
Home aspirations remain
prominent, demand is returning,
technology is catching up, and yet
fundamental issues like affordability
and delivery continue to weigh
down progress.
During our latest webinar, we polled
more than 250 property professionals
about where they see the strongest
opportunities in 2025.
The answer was clear: first-time
buyers. More than half of respondents
(50%) chose this group as their
highest-confidence segment, far
surpassing new-build (18%), later life
lending (13%) and buy-to-let (3%).
Why the confidence?
Despite some negative headlines,
people still have clear homeownership
goals. The next generation are arming
themselves with information, geing
educated, and making sensible
decisions. They understand that
buying a home in 2025 is about timing
and preparation, not just hope.
But let’s not sugar-coat it. Our poll
also demonstrates industry concern.
38% cited affordability as the most
urgent issue needing aention this
year. Interest rates, support for
landlords, and the absence of Help to
Buy alternatives all came up too, but
the core message was unmistakable.
It’s geing harder for people to get
on the ladder, and all components
within the homebuying chain
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The Intermediary | May 2025
need to support these aspirations,
where possible.
The pandemic years forced
our industry to innovate quickly.
Now, we’re seeing firms across the
market move from tech-curious to
tech-confident. Automation and
artificial intelligence (AI) are no
longer theoretical, they’re becoming
standard. Data centralisation is the
next major milestone, and it’s one
we’re fully behind.
At Countrywide, we don’t view
this shi as a way to replace human
input, but to enhance it. When used
well, data doesn’t diminish the role
of professionals – it magnifies their
value. Our surveyors, for instance, are
spending less time on admin and more
time on-site where their insight truly
maers. That’s a win for accuracy,
customer confidence, and efficiency.
Building the future
We’re already seeing lenders gravitate
toward centralised data platforms.
With clearer data, decisions come
quicker and with greater consistency.
The opportunity now is to harness
this momentum to improve the entire
property transaction, not just one or
two steps in the chain.
The mortgage journey is still far
more painful than it needs to be.
Innovation sparks brighter future for the market
MATTHEW CUMBER
is managing director
at Countrywide
Surveying Services
People still have clear
homeownership goals.
The next generation are
arming themselves
with information”
Ask any broker, buyer, or lender
and they’ll tell you the same thing:
the process is disjointed. One of our
core aims is to eliminate those friction
points, whether that’s delays in
valuation, gaps in data, or inconsistent
experiences from region to region.
While technology is a powerful
enabler, the real change will come
from how we connect the dots between
systems, between people, and between
insight and action. That’s where our
aention is focused: building a future
where the property journey is faster,
smarter, and still grounded in trusted
human expertise.
The next five years won’t necessarily
be defined by who has the best tech.
They’ll be defined by who can marry
innovation with insight. Who can
move fast without losing sight of what
really maers, and who can deliver
value not just to lenders and brokers,
but to the people at the end of the
chain making life-changing decisions.
We’re certainly up for that
challenge, and from what we’ve seen
in recent months – from rising firsttime buyer confidence to growing
appetite for innovation – so is
the industry. ●
