Lenders will face a “backlash” from brokers if they plan a return to the dual pricing mortgage of loans, says Just Mortgages. 

This was a sales method abandoned by lenders more than a decade ago, in the wake of the financial crisis, which saw finance houses offer better rates to customers who came to them direct, compared to borrowers who came through brokers. 

But the brokerage says that it is hearing from intermediaries that lenders are beginning to reintroduce dual pricing into a market where around 70% of home loans are arranged through a broker. 

The current system of brokers working closely with lenders encourages the professional presentation of cases to borrowers, the brokerage argues. 

It also allows close liaison between lenders and advisors on service levels, as well as ensuring that products can be quickly launched and pulled through broker networks.    

Just Mortgages national operations director John Philips says: “This really does feel like a return of the bad old days when there was conflict rather than co-operation between lenders and brokers.    

“Over the past decade brokers and lenders have worked so incredibly hard to develop terrific partnerships and mutually beneficial relationships and to throw that away to avoid paying a fee for professionally introduced business seems very short-sighted.   

“The majority of mortgages in the UK are arranged via brokers and I suspect that any lender introducing dual pricing will suffer something of a backlash.    

“Perhaps these rumours are just rumours but if they are not then I’m struggling to understand why a lender would want to be known as ‘anti-broker’ as that is exactly what will happen if they go down a dual pricing route.”