Criteria Hub has asked over 1,000 advisers asking how much time they spent per week on checking criteria.

72.7% said more than two hours per week, 19.7% said between one to two hours per week and 7.6% said less than one hour per week.

Jason Hegarty, director of Criteria Hub, said: “It is clear that sourcing mortgages is only the start of the process for advisers. Criteria and all the nuances that lenders expect advisers to understand, all influence the time it is now taking to reach a final outcome for customers. There is nothing worse than thinking that a lender will accept a case only to find that some part of the lender’s criteria was not flagged up during the sourcing process.

“With so many customers no longer falling into the standard lending mould, it is hardly surprising that advisers are having to work harder to ensure that they understand the wrinkles in lender criteria to recommend the right product.”

Tim Stevens, BDM at brokerage The Mortgage Lady, added: “We deal with more than our share of non-standard clients and I think Criteria Hub’s survey results seem highly conservative. However, by using Criteria Hub, our current time saving is at least a full working day a week for me.

“I view the development of Criteria Hub as one of the most significant changes in the independent mortgage advice market for many years.”