Paragon Bank research has found that more than half of mortgage intermediary firms are expanding, reflecting growing optimism amongst brokers.

The summer edition of Paragon Bank’s latest Mortgage Intermediary Insight Report (MIIR) showed that 51% of firms are currently expanding, up from 38% recorded in the Winter edition of the intermediary barometer.

Conversely, the proportion who stated that their employer is scaling back has fallen from 7% to just 5% during the same period.

The most common approach to growth adopted by firms is recruitment. Over a quarter (27%) of intermediaries said that experienced advisers are being employed, while 17% stated that their company is hiring more trainee advisers. A similar proportion, 16%, noted that additional paraplanners are being utilised to help advisers with paperwork and 12% of the brokers involved in the research said that ‘other staff’ are bolstering headcounts where they work.

The survey of over 200 mortgage brokers also found that a quarter (25%) of mortgage intermediary businesses are expanding operations with new or enhanced marketing and a further 23% are investing in additional technology.

Louisa Sedgwick, commercial director for mortgages at Paragon Bank, said: “It’s great to hear that brokerages are growing. Some are boosting their workforce numbers while others are upskilling existing staff, an approach that ultimately increases the expertise in the sector.

“In addition, we see that some firms are investing in marketing or technology, helping them to secure and service more business effectively.”

The growth reported reflects the growing optimism amongst mortgage intermediaries, which is also revealed in the report.

Brokers were asked to think about the prospects of four different aspects of business – the mortgage industry, the intermediary sector, their own firm and buy-to-let business. More intermediaries said that they felt confident about the outlook for each of these areas compared to the winter edition of MIIR.

Sedgwick added: “Committing to expanding suggests that intermediary firms feel confident about the future. This is something that our report supports, also highlighting how the brokers we spoke to are now notably more optimistic about various facets of business compared to the start of the year.

“Having direct relationships with clients, the people who are investing in property, means that brokers have an up-to-date picture of the current strength of the market, so an increase in optimism is an encouraging indicator for the rest of the sector.”