The Curious Incident of the Dog at the Gig: How not to get Stuck Playing the Same Three Chords

I was at a gig recently, a small venue, one of those where you are close enough to the stage to see everything that is going on. Steve Craddock (of Ocean Colour Scene fame) was playing a stripped-back acoustic set, just him and a couple of other musicians on stage. 

However, he also had a ‘special guest’ there - a dog, presumably Steve’s, sat in a basket on the stage, completely unbothered by the whole thing, staying put while the set carried on around it.

It added something different I suppose to what was otherwise a familiar structure. Even when you know the songs, even when you know the rhythm, there is always something that makes it feel slightly different. The dog sadly did not perform an encore.
 

A market that knows its structure

That thought stayed with me afterwards, because in many ways parts of the mortgage market may be starting to feel a bit like a too familiar setlist.

If you look at the mainstream mortgage space today, there is a level of consistency that has been built over time. A core group of lenders, broadly aligned on pricing, criteria that often overlaps, and processes that have become quicker and more efficient. For clients, that has brought real benefits in terms of clarity, speed and certainty.

That consistency has come from years of lenders refining their approach, investing in systems, and learning from periods of disruption such as Covid and the ‘Mini Budget’. The result is a market that, in many respects, is more predictable and easier to navigate than it has been in the past. None of that is a negative. In fact, it is a sign of a market that has matured.
 

When familiarity becomes the norm

In music, there are bands who built entire careers on simple structures – Status Quo being a band that comes to mind for their ability to get so many songs out of just three chords. However, some of their more successful work actually came when they deviated from this three-chord structure. 

There is a parallel here. In parts of the mortgage market, outcomes can appear broadly similar regardless of the route taken, where the overall shape of the solution often looks very close.
At the same time, there are clear signs lenders are investing heavily in this very space. Upping their resources and investment in technology, improving processing speeds, and creating more direct ways for customers to engage with them. Turnaround times are shortening, and the overall journey is becoming more streamlined.

As that continues, it naturally raises questions about where advice will sit, and where it adds the most value. Where are the interesting aspects of the market that advisers can play in beyond this if this lender approach begins to eat into this business – specialist certainly, later life perhaps? 

The ‘three chord’ fully-mainstream element of the mortgage market feels like it has its limits for advisers, and because of the overwhelming ‘same-ness’ of it, it also feels like an area where lenders will increasingly push to secure more market share direct. 

I recently spoke with Rob Barnard at Pepper Money – who many will know is not averse to belting out a tune himself – and his take on this theme was interesting: “In today's market, like a skilled conductor in a complex symphony, mortgage brokers can bring harmony to even the most intricate client needs - with so many solutions available to them they now have to  say 'no’ to very little, orchestrating bespoke solutions, and building relationships that crescendo over time”.

Different ways to play it

Every broker will respond to that in their own way, and there is no single approach that will suit everyone. For some, it may mean gradually expanding the range of lenders they use, looking beyond the most familiar options where appropriate. 

For others, it may involve spending more time in areas where cases are less straightforward and whose complexity requires experience and judgement to play a bigger role. 

There is also a growing focus on ongoing client relationships, rather than purely transactional interactions, particularly as clients expect more regular engagement and support over time.
 

Adding more to the arrangement

If we go back to the music analogy, moving beyond a simple structure does not mean abandoning it altogether. It is more about adding layers when the situation calls for it, whether that is bringing in different instruments, changing tempo, or approaching the same song from a slightly different angle.

In a mortgage context, that may include greater use of specialist lenders, regional building societies, or solutions that sit outside the most commonly-used options. Not as a replacement for the mainstream, but as an additional dimension when it is needed.

The unique Paradigm Building Society mailbox is a case in point. This is where we offer access to those regional societies who look at cases that require a different outlook. The growth in the mailbox activity has been not only encouraging to show this market is needed but shows real alternatives for the broker and their clients. 

The point here is that, as the mainstream becomes more consistent and more efficient, brokers will need to think about how they position themselves in order to counter this, or to work alongside it, or to write business which is outside of this. 

‘Three-chord advice’ may well survive for a period of time, but the real value for advisers is likely to be in additional and interesting forays into more interesting structures, processes and options. 

Richard Howes is Managing Director at Paradigm Mortgage Services