Regulatory status and business information

Who we are

Mortgage Capacity Opinion is a trading name of Jonathon Mark Turner, trading as a sole trader.

Address for service of documents and place of business: 30 Great Underbank, Stockport, SK1 1NB, United Kingdom.
Email: jon@mortgagecapacityopinion.co.uk

Mortgage Capacity Opinion is not a limited company. It has no company number and should not be described as “Ltd” or “Limited”.

Mortgage Capacity Opinion is not registered for VAT. No VAT is charged on our fees.

Regulatory status

Mortgage Capacity Opinion is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and does not provide regulated mortgage advice.

We do not recommend mortgage products or individual lenders, arrange mortgages, submit mortgage applications, obtain decisions or agreements in principle, or introduce the subject of a report to a broker or lender as part of our service.

Individual lenders and products

Mortgage Capacity Opinion assesses potential borrowing capacity by reference to lending criteria and affordability methodologies across the mortgage market. Individual lenders and mortgage products are not identified or recommended. This maintains a clear distinction between an assessment of mortgage capacity and regulated mortgage advice.

Our reports set out an impartial professional opinion, based on published lending criteria and the affordability methodologies operated across the mortgage market, on the level of borrowing a party may in principle be able to raise. They are prepared for use in family law proceedings. They are illustrative and are not an offer of finance; no lender is bound by them.

The Financial Ombudsman Service and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme are not available in respect of our work. Anyone who wants regulated mortgage advice should consult an FCA-authorised mortgage adviser; authorisation can be checked on the Financial Services Register at register.fca.org.uk.

We are not a member of any regulated profession in respect of the services described on this website, and we are not subject to any authorisation scheme or supervisory authority in respect of them.

What our reports are not

Our reports are not legal advice, not a valuation, not an offer of finance and not a guarantee that any lender will lend.

Specifically, a report from Mortgage Capacity Opinion is not a mortgage offer, not a decision or agreement in principle, not a recommendation of any individual lender or mortgage product, not a property valuation, and not legal advice.

Expert evidence

We do not describe ourselves as an expert witness unless and until the court has given permission for expert evidence in the case concerned.

In most financial remedy cases a mortgage capacity report is filed as indicative material about the parties’ borrowing capacity as part of the First Appointment material, rather than as expert evidence. Where the court does give permission for expert evidence on borrowing capacity, including on a single joint expert appointment, we prepare the report in accordance with Practice Direction 25B, including the statement of truth, the declaration of no conflict of interest, the summary of the range of opinion, and the statement that our duty to the court overrides any duty to the party instructing or paying us.

More on Part 25 and Practice Direction 25B.

Independence and conflicts

Mortgage Capacity Opinion does not arrange mortgages, does not receive commission from lenders, does not take referral fees, and does not introduce parties to lenders or brokers. We have no financial interest in what any party does after a report is delivered.

Jonathon Mark Turner works separately as a Mortgage & Protection Adviser through his own regulated professional arrangements. That work is entirely separate from Mortgage Capacity Opinion. Mortgage Capacity Opinion is not the business through which regulated mortgage or protection advice is provided, and the subject of a report is not referred to it.

Where a conflict of interest arises or might reasonably be perceived to arise in a particular case, we will disclose it and, if appropriate, decline the instruction.

Terms, complaints and jurisdiction

Our terms cover the use of this website and the basis on which we accept instructions; the full terms of any engagement are confirmed in writing before work begins. Our complaints procedure explains how to raise a concern and how it will be handled.

Contracts are governed by the law of England and Wales and are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

Qualification

Jonathon Mark Turner holds the Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice (CeMAP), awarded by The London Institute of Banking & Finance. This is a professional qualification. It is not a regulatory authorisation and should not be read as one.