Confidence among UK mortgage intermediaries has rebounded to near-record highs, according to the latest Mortgage Market Tracker from the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA), reflecting growing optimism across the sector as business volumes return to long-term trends.
The report, covering the first quarter of 2025, shows 98% of brokers feel confident about their own business prospects, with almost half describing themselves as “very confident”. Confidence in the wider intermediary sector stood at 94%, while 92% expressed confidence in the overall mortgage market, although only 29% said they felt “very confident” in that regard.
Average case volumes recovered sharply, rising from 80 in the final quarter of 2024 to 95 in Q1 – effectively erasing the previous quarter’s decline and aligning with historical norms. IMLA described the Q4 dip as a “blip” rather than a sign of structural change, a conclusion supported by Bank of England figures showing secured lending growth edging back toward 2022 levels.
Residential mortgages continued to dominate broker activity, accounting for around two-thirds of total business. Buy-to-let retained a significant share at just under a quarter, while specialist lending made up around one in nine cases. Within residential lending, remortgaging and product transfers represented 27% of activity, with first-time buyer business comprising 21%.
The lending process also showed signs of improved efficiency. The number of decisions in principle (DIPs) handled rose to an average of 33 per intermediary. Of those, 84% progressed to DIP acceptance, up from 80% in Q2 2024, while 74% of accepted DIPs moved on to a full application. Offers were issued in 89% of full application cases – the highest proportion seen in three years – with completion rates remaining steady at 76%.
Kate Davies, executive director of IMLA, said the findings pointed to a robust recovery in broker sentiment and activity levels, despite ongoing uncertainty in the wider economy.
“These results suggest that, despite global economic and political uncertainty, the continued resilience of the UK housing market and the falling interest rate environment have combined to boost morale among mortgage intermediaries,” she said.
Davies noted that the end of stamp duty concessions on 1 April likely contributed to increased case volumes, but added that the relatively low proportion of first-time buyer business compared with remortgages and product transfers signalled a broader market rebound rather than a one-off rush.
“With affordability continuing to improve as rates come down and the regulator encouraging more lender flexibility, brokers seem confident that these higher levels of activity may continue later into the year,” she said.
Buy-to-let lending, often seen as vulnerable to policy shifts, remains resilient despite recent headwinds, including a surcharge in October’s Budget and ongoing debate surrounding the Renters’ Rights Bill. The sector still accounted for almost a quarter of mortgage transactions.
Davies welcomed the improvement in conversion rates across all stages of the mortgage process – from DIP to offer and completion – as further evidence of a market regaining momentum.
“Inflation in the UK remains sticky, and the future path of interest rates is not guaranteed, but this month’s Base Rate cut and the recent competition and innovation among mortgage lenders are contributing to a more benign market than we have experienced for some time,” she said. “It will be interesting to see whether the Mortgage Market Tracker results for Q2 remain as positive as the first three months of 2025 – let’s hope so.”
