Mortgage Advice Bureau said revenue in the first six months of the year lifted 5% to £123.5m, “despite a difficult market backdrop”.  

The value of gross mortgage completions also rose by 5%, while its share of new lending rose to 8.2% against 8% compared to a year ago, said the broker network in a trading statement.  

Its average number of mainstream advisers in the six months to the end of June fell 3% to 1,898, but adds that adviser numbers following the end of the period have risen to 1,944.  

It said it was starting to see a rise in broker numbers, even though “a forecast interest rate reductions have not yet materialised”.  

The business said: “We expect to deliver further growth in the remainder of this year as new appointed representatives are recruited into MAB, and our appointed representatives start growing adviser numbers again after more than 20 months of consolidation that reflected market conditions.”  

It added that it expects “a modest pick-up in activity expected in the second half” of the year.  

The Aim-listed firm said: “There is a significant amount of re-financing that has been delayed for several months, pending possible rate reductions in the summer.   

“While the market may no longer expect a rate cut in August, at some stage we expect these borrowers will want to switch to a better mortgage rate, rather than sitting on expensive floating rates.   

“The current market expectation is that the Bank of England will cut rates by around 0.5% by the end of the year.”  

The Bank of England’s base rate has remained at a 16-year high of 5.25% since last August, despite inflation returning to its 2% target.    

Mortgage Advice Bureau chief executive Peter Brodnicki said: “Most experts have been proved wrong in terms of the pace and scale of any rate reductions this year, and that has consequently delayed many re-finance transactions in the first half [of the year] and any sustainable pick up in purchase activity.”  

He added: “We look forward to a downward trend in the base rate, which will lead to a more active refinancing market and a build-up to more normal levels of housing transactions.    

“It is very encouraging to now have a new government so focused on housebuilding and other initiatives that will give our market and MAB a tailwind, added to which we expect to see record years in terms of re-financing in 2025/26.  

“We therefore expect to see activity pick up in the second half of the year and into 2025, when we anticipate our investment in lead generation and retention will contribute more significantly to our ambitious growth plans.”  

The firm will post its interim results on 24 September.