Some 91% of brokers are spending a lot more time completing specialist mortgage cases than those fitting mainstream criteria. This is according to research carried out for United Trust Bank Mortgages.

However, this extra time and attention appears to produce more loyal clients with 96% of brokers saying specialist customers are more likely to use their services again.

Nearly half (49%) of brokers who took part in the research said that they were spending from 10-30% more time on specialist cases with a further 31% saying they were spending more than 30% extra time than they would on average spend on a mainstream case.

According to the survey, 38% of brokers said that more than half of the cases they had completed in the last 12 months were specialist. And 21% included in that figure said that all their cases had been specialist. 87% of brokers said that clients often approached them having been turned down by a lender or other broker.

Although 82% of brokers still prefer to submit their cases direct to lenders, 43% said that they may use referral partners in the future.

Commenting on the research Connect Mortgages chief executive Liz Syms said: “If the adviser’s volume of specialist lending is low or they have no appetite to write this type of business, they can find a partner. If they are keen on the market, they should immerse themselves.”