Brokers have awarded mortgage lenders their highest satisfaction scores in over four years, according to the latest findings from Smart Money People’s H1 2025 Mortgage Lender Benchmark.
The independent research, based on responses from 1,111 brokers across 600 firms, found that overall satisfaction with mortgage lenders climbed to 4.22 out of 5 – a marginal increase of 0.05 points on the previous survey, and the best result since 2020.
The benchmark, now in its fourteenth edition, is the largest feedback study of its kind in the industry. The H1 2025 report reflects broker sentiment on 134 lenders, accounting for 98% of UK gross mortgage lending.
Smart Money People has also introduced a new Broker Experience Index, a composite score designed to assess a lender’s performance across key service areas including speed, support and digital tools. The inaugural index stands at 70.6, with building societies narrowly leading the field at 71.5, just ahead of mainstream lenders on 71.4.
Jake Sandford, head of data and analytics at Smart Money People, said: “It’s extremely encouraging to see that overall satisfaction across the industry remains high, which is undoubtedly great news for brokers and borrowers alike.
“To reflect the importance of the wider broker journey across multiple touch points when working with lenders, our new Broker Experience Index provides revealing insights on the individual elements of the journey – and shows which lenders are managing to join everything up to provide the best broker experience.”
The average Net Promoter Score also rose notably, increasing by 5 points from H2 2024 to +40.9, suggesting that more brokers would be willing to recommend the lenders they work with.
Among the top performers identified in the survey, Halifax was named the best mainstream lender. Principality Building Society retained its title as the top-ranked building society lender, while Canada Life was once again recognised as the best later life lender. Pepper Money continued its strong run as the leading specialist lender.
In the buy-to-let category, BM Solutions took the top spot, displacing the previous incumbent. Allica Bank was named best bridging and commercial lender, while LendInvest was highlighted as the leading digital-first lender.
Smart Money People said the changes to the benchmark this year were driven by lender and broker feedback, ensuring that the survey better reflects evolving broker priorities in a fast-changing mortgage market.
