Data from the MBT Affordability platform shows that in September there were only one or two lenders able to provide the loan size requested by brokers on 13% of all searches.

Where lenders were able to meet the requested loan amount on these cases, 71% were smaller lenders and only 29% were larger mainstream lenders,

Tanya Toumadj, chief executive at Mortgage Broker Tools, said: “This data provides clear evidence that brokers who are not conducting full affordability research of the whole market are not giving their clients the best chance of securing the loan size they need to achieve their objectives.

“In September just four of the top 10 lenders for affordability were mainstream lenders, meaning that brokers were more likely to secure the loan amount requested by their clients with a smaller lender.

“These are lenders that brokers may not immediately consider and, even if they do, may be unfamiliar with their affordability calculators, which can lead to missed opportunities and incorrect recommendations.

“This is where an accurate affordability platform like MBT Affordability can help, with a single easy to use form that accesses affordability calculations from more than 40 residential mortgage lenders and 65 buy-to-let lenders, providing a diverse range of results from mainstream lenders and smaller lenders alike.”