Habito mortgage brokers - in trouble

simon_or

As per this FT article, it looks like the online mortgage broker Habito is going down soon. Their whole broker team is apparently under 2 months notice of redundancy with 60% expected to lose their job.

I wanted to put this out there so that anyone using them currently or thinking of using them is fully aware.

https://www.ftadviser.com/mortgages/2022/07/29/fintech-lender-habito-to-cut-broker-team-by-more-than-a-dozen/

I hope the MoneySavingExpert people will check with Habito and make sure that they can assure customers of good service since they on the list of MSE recommended brokers.

@ACG @kingstreet @k_s Any tips on what to be aware of if using Habito?

K_S

simon_or said:

As per this FT article, it looks like the online mortgage broker Habito is going down soon. Their whole broker team is apparently under 2 months notice of redundancy with 60% expected to lose their job.

I wanted to put this out there so that anyone using them currently or thinking of using them is fully aware.

https://www.ftadviser.com/mortgages/2022/07/29/fintech-lender-habito-to-cut-broker-team-by-more-than-a-dozen/

I hope the MoneySavingExpert people will check with Habito and make sure that they can assure customers of good service since they on the list of MSE recommended brokers.

@ACG @kingstreet @k_s Any tips on what to be aware of if using Habito?

@simon_or I did hear about this in an industry forum and from the article it does look serious if they have put the whole team under notice of redundancy.

From a new/ongoing applicant point of view I guess the impact is that the employees are (understandably) likely to be distracted, looking for other jobs, in their notice period, etc. so perhaps not in a place to do their job properly. It's important to remember that you can't "transfer" an ongoing application started by one broking firm to yourself (direct) or to another broker. It will need to begin from scratch. The longer term impact is that if they aren't around in a year or two, there's no one you can complain to in the future.

For applications that have already gone through to offer, I wouldn't expect any major implications as long as you don't need an extension or the case has to be re-broked. Might still be worth dropping your broker a note and confirming that everything is on track.

ACG

It will be a self fulfilling prophecy... If people stop using them because they are in trouble, they will go under. 
I find it hard to believe that something which has had so much investment in such a short space of time will go under so soon. You could find someone like L&C come in and buy it up maybe.  

That being said, as much as I have sympathy for the people up for redundancy. The company as a whole I have no sympathy for. They have taken millions and millions and basically got a call centre and an online factfind. 

At the same time one of their adverts was apparently saying if you do not use habito the home buying process will be terrible. If a company is happy to dump all over the people that were around before it existed and look like they will be around after they exist, you reap what you sow. 

The only tip I have is to think about 3 months down the line. If there are problems at the last minute or you have questions or the sale falls through and you need to transfer your offer to a new property, will they be able to help? There is a very real possibility of a rough 12 months ahead. Maybe try and support local businesses. 

simon_or

ACG said:

It will be a self fulfilling prophecy... If people stop using them because they are in trouble, they will go under. 
I find it hard to believe that something which has had so much investment in such a short space of time will go under so soon. You could find someone like L&C come in and buy it up maybe. 

Looks like L&C has recently pulled out of purchasing Habito, probably that's why they're now in big trouble

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-21/habito-is-said-to-end-talks-to-combine-with-london-country

ACG

simon_or said:

ACG said:

It will be a self fulfilling prophecy... If people stop using them because they are in trouble, they will go under. 
I find it hard to believe that something which has had so much investment in such a short space of time will go under so soon. You could find someone like L&C come in and buy it up maybe. 

Looks like L&C has recently pulled out of purchasing Habito, probably that's why they're now in big trouble

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-21/habito-is-said-to-end-talks-to-combine-with-london-country

Maybe with a view to buying them up on the cheap in 6 months time. 

K_S

simon_or said:

ACG said:

It will be a self fulfilling prophecy... If people stop using them because they are in trouble, they will go under. 
I find it hard to believe that something which has had so much investment in such a short space of time will go under so soon. You could find someone like L&C come in and buy it up maybe. 

Looks like L&C has recently pulled out of purchasing Habito, probably that's why they're now in big trouble

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-21/habito-is-said-to-end-talks-to-combine-with-london-country

That's interesting but not unexpected. I know one of these very close-up and other than the fact that they're both volume brokers, I've never considered them to have too many similarities.

ACG

K_S said:

simon_or said:

ACG said:

It will be a self fulfilling prophecy... If people stop using them because they are in trouble, they will go under. 
I find it hard to believe that something which has had so much investment in such a short space of time will go under so soon. You could find someone like L&C come in and buy it up maybe. 

Looks like L&C has recently pulled out of purchasing Habito, probably that's why they're now in big trouble

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-21/habito-is-said-to-end-talks-to-combine-with-london-country

That's interesting but not unexpected. I know one of these very close-up and other than the fact that they're both volume brokers, I've never considered them to have too many similarities.

Which one is full of experienced brokers used to dealing with non vanilla applicants? 

K_S

ACG said:

K_S said:

simon_or said:

ACG said:

It will be a self fulfilling prophecy... If people stop using them because they are in trouble, they will go under. 
I find it hard to believe that something which has had so much investment in such a short space of time will go under so soon. You could find someone like L&C come in and buy it up maybe. 

Looks like L&C has recently pulled out of purchasing Habito, probably that's why they're now in big trouble

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-21/habito-is-said-to-end-talks-to-combine-with-london-country

That's interesting but not unexpected. I know one of these very close-up and other than the fact that they're both volume brokers, I've never considered them to have too many similarities.

Which one is full of experienced brokers used to dealing with non vanilla applicants? 

@ACG Haha Habito has more experienced brokers (they pay very well!) but neither of the two are set up to handle anything too non-vanilla.

As volume brokers, I think it's safe to say that their business models lean towards hoovering up the relatively easy business out there which doesn't require a lot of criteria to-and-fro with the lender, subjective decision making, navigating an adverse credit history, etc. And to be fair it's worked well for L&C, I think they've been around for a few decades now.

simon_or

Habito looks like they're really struggling, desperately trying to raise money to keep afloat at tiny valuations

https://news.sky.com/story/mortgage-start-up-habito-in-talks-to-salvage-future-at-distressed-valuation-12666186