Almost 40% of mortgage brokers found high loan to value ratios the biggest hurdle for their clients in 2010, according to research conducted at the recent mortgage Business Expo.

The research, conducted by borro, a short-term loan solution for introducers and advisers, also found 60% of survey respondents thought the market would not improve next year, and was expected to stay stagnant.

The survey of mortgage brokers also found that a client’s ability to prove their income was a big obstacle in 2010, with 21% of respondents saying this was one of the biggest challenges facing the industry over the last 12 months. Only 13% felt that high house prices had been the biggest challenge of the past year.

The research showed that 57% of brokers felt commission had fallen in the last 12 months. Meanwhile, 85% of brokers surveyed said they could think of a time in the last 12 months when they would have recommended borro’s short term asset based finance solution.

Paul Brett , business development director at borro, said: “We’ve identified a gap in the market for a short-term finance solution for brokers to offer to clients that provides the introducing broker excellent commission rates. Borro Introducer is a program for intermediaries that fills this gap