Fintech lender Habito will cut its brokerage team by more than a dozen
Fintech lender Habito is set to cut the majority of its brokerage team, giving advisers – or “mortgage experts” as the startup calls them – up to two months to find other jobs.
The entire brokerage team is “put at risk,” according to two people familiar with the matter.
More than a dozen brokers will be made redundant after an “advisory period”, or notice period, which FTAdviser understands is up to two months.
Employers in the UK must legally give employees at least 30 days notice.
The remaining brokers – believed to be around a dozen – will retain their positions, but the identities of those brokers will not be known until the end of the consultancy period, it is understood.
In November 2021, Habito told FTAdviser that they had 36 mortgage brokers. A source said that number is now closer to 30. Habito employs a total of 158 people, according to its LinkedIn profile page.
This means the cuts could represent anywhere between 18 per cent and 22 per cent of the company’s total workforce, and could affect up to 60 per cent of the mortgage brokerage team.
A source said some of Habito’s long-serving brokers were now looking for broker positions with competitors, having been on a £55,000 base salary at Habito.
“This salary is pretty unheard of in the mortgage brokerage industry, so they’re not going easy,” said a person familiar with the matter.
Another source added: “Putting these brokers on such a high salary has had a huge impact on the market. It’s ironic. They started by saying ‘we’re going to disrupt the mortgage broking industry’ and they have, but not for reasons they intended. It’s really sad.”
FTAdviser understands that a recruiter speaks to up to 25 of Habito’s brokers.
At least a third, or 12, of Habito’s mortgage brokers have been with the company for four years or more, according to LinkedIn.
A handful of brokers still listed as Habito employees have now put ‘#OpenforWork’ filters on their LinkedIn profile pictures.
The firm’s head of marketing, Abba Newbery, went to sustainable investment platform Circa5000 in June. A month later, its vice president of talent, Javaad Abdul-Rasool, left for the company’s e-gift card provider WeGift.
There are currently no direct ads posted on the company’s careers page. As of July 27, the job listing page stated, “Habito currently has no active roles.”
A Habito spokesperson told FTAdviser: “We are currently exploring a number of strategic partnerships to shape Habito’s next chapter. We cannot comment on market rumours, but will provide an update on future plans in due course.”
The company did not confirm how many employees it would let go.
Habito’s chief executive and founder, Daniel Hegarty, said in an interview with FTAdviser late last year that the business was “based on technology”, which was why it employed so few brokers compared to rivals such as Trussle – which aims to employ 1,000 advisers by 2023.
