A recent survey by the Mansfield Building Society of its own mortgage introducers has shown that individual underwriting and lending criteria continues to be highly valued.

When asked why brokers chose the Mansfield, individual underwriting and criteria accounted for over half of the responses.

Meanwhile, 32% of respondents said that their biggest current challenge with mortgage lenders is affordability assessments, with a further 27% citing automated credit scoring systems.

In the rating of its service levels, the Mansfield scored highly, particularly the attitude of its staff and also in handling initial enquiries.

Stuart Bryce, business development manager at the Mansfield, said brokers expect products and pricing to be competitive but that good service is the key.

He said: “It was pleasing to see that we scored highly with our introducers. Since MMR, brokers have become much more aware of the importance of choosing lenders where good service includes consistent and realistic underwriting.

“We are proud of our reputation for fair and commonsense lending and we do respond to broker feedback. We have recently updated our affordability calculator and will look to make further service improvements as we progress through 2015.

“In the current competitive market place, brokers increasingly appreciate our lending approach, because they know they can get the service they need.”