Over the years, lenders have moved from simply transacting with brokers to offering more extensive support.

Similarly, networks have increasingly adopted a more holistic approach, supporting brokers with business growth and marketing while also guiding them through regulatory changes.

To gain a deeper understanding of how brokers perceive the support from lenders and their network or club, Mortgage Finance Gazette’s Rated for Service introduced a new section in which brokers were asked a series of questions about the help they received.

When brokers were asked about training and business development support from lenders, the majority responded positively: 51% rated it as ‘Good,’ with only 7% rating it as ‘Poor.’

A similar pattern emerged for support from networks and clubs, with 46% rating it as ‘Good,’ and 2% as ‘Very poor.’

Overall, a larger percentage of brokers rated their network’s or club’s support as ‘Good,’ or ‘Excellent.’ However, with 2% rating it as ‘Very poor,’ there are some brokers who feel their needs are not being met.

The next question explored the content that brokers valued most in lender training sessions.

Mortgage criteria topped the list, with 61% rating it as most important. Marketing/social media support ranked the lowest. A similar pattern emerged when brokers were asked about their network’s or club’s events.

Although lenders always make their criteria available, brokers clearly appreciate the talks they give.

When brokers were asked how their network or club had supported them through challenges such as the Consumer Duty, responses were, again, largely positive: 51% rated the support as ‘Good,’ with only 1% rating it as ‘Very poor.’

When brokers were asked about their preferred event formats, the majority favoured a mix of in-person and online events – something that might not have been foreseen before the Covid pandemic.

Overall the feedback shows that, while brokers generally feel supported, there’s still room for improvement, offering some valuable takeaways for lenders, networks and clubs.

All the data for the Mortgage Finance Gazette Rated for Service 2025 is now accessed via a dashboard. All the ratings data for each lender category, and all the rankings data for each assessment area, is available from the past three years. Lenders’ performance in any of the five assessment areas can now be ranked from highest to lowest across the entire lender panel for each year, and filtered based on broker type and case load.

This year we have also added factor analysis for each lender category, so brokers will be able to benchmark their chosen panel of lenders against the average score for each assessment area (max. of five lenders).

The dashboard brings an unprecedented level of clarity to lender service levels for the broker community. We’d like to hear your feedback in the comments section below, or email [email protected].

Please see the full dashboard below: