Accord Mortgages has come out on top as the highest-rated building society in the Mortgage Lender Benchmark survey carried out by Smart Money People with mortgage brokers.
The six-monthly survey of mortgage brokers asked them to rate the service of 44 banks, building societies, specialist and lifetime lenders, and to rate the last five lenders they worked with.
While the brokers rated Halifax as the best bank lender and Accord as the best building society lender, M&S Bank and Kent Reliance were rated as the poorest. Best lifetime mortgage lender was More 2 Life, and alongside rival Pure Retirement, they were the highest rated across all lenders. Fleet Mortgages was the top rated specialist lender.
Halifax has been rated best bank lender in the last three broker surveys due to the ease and speed of processing applications through to offer. Barclays scored highly for its rates and criteria, but the mortgage processing systems and underwriting were rated unsatisfactory.
The survey revealed the top three mortgage lenders in each category, according to brokers as:
Banking lenders
- Halifax
- NatWest
- BM Solutions
Building societies
- Accord Mortgages
- Coventry Building Society
- Nationwide Building Society
Specialist lenders
- Fleet Mortgages
- Bluestone
- Pepper Money
Lifetime lenders
- more 2 life
- L&G
- Pure Retirement
Overall, building societies outperformed every other type of lender. For borrowers choosing to work with a mortgage broker, the survey provides a good insight into brokers’ lender preferences and potential ease of applications.
