Intermediaries pivotal to reviving housing market says CII

Meeting at the Chartered Insurance Institute leading industry figures agreed the volume of mortgage transactions were currently at 80% of the levels seen this time last year. But they suggested the way to reinvigorate the housing market was for intermediaries to continue to develop their technical skills and lenders develop new innovative products. Richard Fox, chairman of the Society of Mortgage Professionals, says: "It is important that we help the first-time buyer market, where people are often held back by the fact that they cannot borrow sufficient money to get on the housing ladder...