Mortgage Lender Benchmark H1 2025: The results

In response to the changing needs of the mortgage market, this latest edition features a range of enhancements, shaped by direct feedback from lenders and brokers, to provide even more comprehensive analysis.

Overall satisfaction with mortgage lenders has increased by 0.05-points to 4.22 out of 5 – its highest level since 2020. The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is +40.9, up 5.0-points from H2 2024, while the lender average stands at +30.3. The results suggest a modest uplift in broker advocacy, despite ongoing concerns in some areas of the market.

Meanwhile, our newly introduced Broker Experience Index – which combines multiple satisfaction and service metrics – debuts at 70.6

The results form part of our twice-yearly Mortgage Lender Benchmark, which analyses the state of the mortgage industry according to brokers’ views. The latest edition comprises feedback from 1,111 brokers at 600 firms, who gave their opinions on 134 lenders, representing 98% of UK gross mortgage lending.

Key findings from our Mortgage Lender Benchmark H1 2025

• Overall satisfaction with mortgage lenders has increased by 0.05-points to 4.22 out of 5
• Net Promoter Score (NPS) 5.0-points from H2 2024 to +40.9
• Building societies are once again the top-rated sector for broker satisfaction, with a Broker Experience Index of 71.5
• Mainstream lenders were a close second behind building societies, scoring 71.4
• Commercial / bridging lenders were the lowest rated, with a Broker Experience Index of 64.2

Top broker rated lenders for H1 2025:

Top overall lender: Halifax

Top mainstream lender: Halifax

Top building society: Principality Building Society

Top specialist lender: Pepper Money

Top Buy to Let specialist: BM Solutions

Top later life lender: Canada Life

Top bridging / commercial lender: Allica Bank

Top digital-first lender: LendInvest

Commenting on the findings, Jake Sandford, Head of Data and Analytics at Smart Money People, commented:

“It’s extremely encouraging to see that overall satisfaction across the industry remains high, which is undoubtedly great news for brokers and borrowers alike.

“To reflect the importance of the wider broker journey across multiple touch points when working with lenders, our new Broker Experience Index provides revealing insights on the individual elements of the journey – and shows which lenders are managing to join everything up to provide the best broker experience.”

Download a summary of the report now

To download a summary copy of the report or to purchase your full copy, head to our dedicated Mortgage Lender Benchmark H1 2025 page.

About the Mortgage Lender Benchmark

The Mortgage Lender Benchmark is a bi-annual report released by Smart Money People in June and December each year.

The H1 2025 version is the thirteenth edition of the report, which started in H2 2018.

Mortgage brokers were asked to leave feedback on the last five lenders they’ve attempted to place a case with recently, as well as other providers they use within their mortgage business, and their comments on the mortgage market in general.

We captured data on 134 lenders was captured as part of the study and 66 lenders feature in the in-depth analysis

Smart Money People analyses the comments that brokers provide when asked what they like or what could be improved for each lender. These are mapped across 20 themes to give a rich insight into how each lender is performing.