Building societies continue to be the top-rated sector for broker satisfaction, up 1% to 85.7%, the Mortgage Lender Benchmark for the first half of the year reveals.

The bi-annual independent research study, run by Smart Money People, has found that the overall average lender rating was 83.7%, which is up 0.8% on H2 2023 and is the highest ever recorded.

The average net promoter score (NPS) for all lenders has improved by 6.5 points on the H2 2023 figure at +38.7.

Lifetime lenders were rated slightly lower than building societies, but increased their score by 1.9% to a total of 85.5%.

Banks saw an increase in their score by 0.4% to 82.7% while specialist lenders ratings went up 0.9% to 80.4%.

Elsewhere, broker satisfaction with relationship managers has gone up by 0.6% to 82.1%.

Principality Building Society was named the top building society while Pepper Money was awarded top specialist lender.

Atom Bank was named the best bank by brokers, while Pure Retirement was named the best lifetime provider. The best buy-to-let lender was InterBay and Pepper Money was recognised as the top specialist lender.

The latest edition comprises feedback from over 950 mortgage brokers on 111 lenders.

Smart Money People chief executive officer Jacqueline Dewey comments: “The increased confidence across the mortgage sector experienced so far in 2024 is very much reflected in our latest Mortgage Lender Benchmark and shows that lenders have met increased demand and volumes positively across the board.”

“A significant increase in the overall NPS score from H2 2023 is also a key indicator that the general levels of broker satisfaction with lenders is good. The lifetime sector deserves special mention as their NPS is up 18.7 from the last report.”