Residential, buy-to-let and remortgage advice · FCA 796413
The Right Lender, First Time. Whole-of-Market Mortgage Broker UK
A refused mortgage usually says more about the lender you asked than about you. UK Mortgage Broker is a whole-of-market mortgage broker UK buyers and landlords use when they want the application to land with a lender whose criteria already match their income, deposit and credit record. One application. The right desk.
Start Here
Seven situations cover almost everyone who calls us. Find yours below. The page behind each one sets out how lenders view that type of borrower, the deposit they expect and the documents that get an offer issued.
Not sure yet what you can afford? Our page on how lenders decide affordability shows the checks they run behind the multiples.
If none of them quite fits, call us and we will place you in a ten-minute call.
Why a Whole-of-Market Mortgage Broker Gets Different Answers
Take three people a high-street branch turned away last month: a contractor paid by the day, a buyer with one small default from 2023, and a couple wanting a flat above a shop. None of them was a bad risk. Each had simply walked into a lender whose rulebook had no page for them.
Every one of those cases has a lender somewhere that writes it every week. The catch is that criteria shift constantly. The lender that wanted two years of accounts in spring may accept one by autumn; the one that ignored bonus income may now count half of it; a 5% deposit on a new build is fine with some and impossible with others. Tracking those moves across the whole market, and matching you to the right one today, is the work a mortgage broker is paid to do.
We have been doing exactly that since 2017, for clients across the UK and overseas, as a division of Commercial Finance Network. Current pricing is on our UK mortgage rates page, and the fees and charges that sit behind any deal are explained in the true cost of a mortgage.
What Happens After You Call
Ten minutes on the phone, no charge
You describe the purchase or the remortgage, your earnings and your deposit. We come back with a realistic borrowing figure and a shortlist of lenders whose criteria you already meet.
A single, well-prepared application
Lenders see the file once it is complete, with the income evidence laid out the way their underwriters expect. Decisions in principle normally come back inside two working days.
Someone chasing it through to keys
Your case manager handles the valuation booking, lender queries and the solicitor. Progress appears in WiiN, our client portal, and an email reaches you whenever a document or a signature is needed.
Want a Number Before You Talk to Anyone?
Our calculators work the way lenders do: income multiples for buyers, rental cover for landlords, switch savings for remortgagers. Our types of mortgage page explains how fixed, tracker and other deals differ.
You Speak to the Person Who Knows Your File
The adviser who takes your first call is the adviser who sees your case through, and a named case manager sits alongside them. Both give you their direct line, and neither will hand you to a queue. When you call with a question, the person answering already knows your file.
Before anything else we look at income, because that is where applications are won or lost. A basic salary is easy. Bonuses, dividends, retained profit, a day rate or rent from an existing property are not, and every lender counts them differently. Our page on how much you can borrow explains the multiples in use, and our checklist of documents you need for a mortgage application shows what to gather first.
Why Use a Mortgage Broker Rather Than Going to Your Bank
Walk into a high street branch and the adviser can only offer what that bank sells. Fair enough, it is their shop. The trouble is that you walk out not knowing whether another lender would have lent you more, charged you less, or said yes to the thing your own bank turned down. We went through that in why going direct to your bank can limit your mortgage options.
A broker starts from you instead of from a product range. Say you are self-employed with two years of accounts, or your deposit is a gift from your parents, or you had one small default a few years back. Each of those suits some lenders and puts off others, and none of them publishes the rules. Knowing which is which is the whole job. A few lenders also price deals that only reach you through a broker, which we cover in broker-only mortgage rates.
Then there is the cost of getting it wrong. Every application leaves a search on your credit file, and a refusal can follow you into the next one. So the application goes in once, complete, to a lender we already expect to approve it. If you want the detail, what a mortgage application does to your credit report sets it out.
The first conversation is free. If a fee applies as well, you will have it in writing before you commit, together with the commission the lender pays us, and neither changes which lender we recommend.
What to Look For in a Mortgage Broker
Start with regulation, and check it yourself. Put the firm's name into the Financial Conduct Authority register and read the entry rather than trusting a logo on a website. UK Mortgage Broker is a division of Commercial Finance Network, directly authorised under reference 796413. Advising on a residential mortgage is a regulated activity, so a broker who is not authorised should not be doing it at all.
Next, ask what "whole of market" covers. Some brokers use every lender, some use a short panel, and some lean on one or two out of habit. A fair question to put to anyone you are thinking of using: is there any lender you would not be able to place me with?
Ask how they are paid, too. The honest answer is usually a mix of commission from the lender and, sometimes, a fee from you. Either is fine so long as it is explained before you sign anything and does not steer the recommendation.
Last, find out who will run the case. You want a named adviser and a case manager, and a way to see where things stand without ringing for an update. With us that is the WiiN portal. And ask to see proof: our case studies show the sort of situations we have placed, and the reviews on Trustist show how clients found the process afterwards.
Mortgage Brokers Across the UK
We advise by phone, video and in person. Local pages cover what lenders look for in each market.
Mortgage Broker UK FAQs
What does a mortgage broker do?
A mortgage broker matches your circumstances to the lenders most likely to approve them, prepares the application, and manages the lender, valuer and solicitor through to completion.
Getting that first lender choice right matters: a refused application can leave a mark on your credit file that the next lender will see.
Is it free to use a mortgage broker?
The first consultation is free.
Any fee is explained before you commit, along with the commission we receive from the lender.
How much can I borrow?
As a rule of thumb, 4 to 4.5 times your annual income.
Some lenders stretch to 5 times or more where the income is high or the job is seen as secure. Your deposit, your credit record and any loans or childcare costs you already pay will push the figure up or down, so one lender’s calculator is only ever a guess.
Can I get a mortgage with bad credit?
Often, yes.
Specialist lenders look at how old the issue is, how large it was and what has happened since. A low score on its own is not the deciding factor.
How quickly can I get a mortgage offer?
Expect a decision in principle within a day or two, and a full offer two to four weeks later once the valuation is back.
What slows an application down is nearly always a missing document. Gather three months of payslips and bank statements, proof of deposit and your passport or driving licence before we submit, and the offer tends to arrive at the quicker end of that range.
Are you regulated?
UK Mortgage Broker is a division of Commercial Finance Network, directly authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, reference 796413.
You can check the entry on the FCA register.
Should I use a mortgage broker or go direct to my bank?
A broker can compare the whole market, while your bank can only offer its own products.
If the bank’s deal turns out to be the best one, a broker will say so. Where your income, deposit or credit record is anything other than straightforward, the wider choice tends to matter far more, and we explain how brokers place the difficult ones in how brokers place difficult-to-place mortgage applications.
Can I get a mortgage if I am self-employed?
Yes, most lenders will lend to the self-employed once you can show your income through accounts or tax calculations.
They do not all read those figures the same way. Some average two or three years, others take the latest year, and a few count retained profit or dividends. We match you to the one that reads your income most kindly, and our complex income mortgages page and the post on how self-employed borrowers use retained profits and directors’ loans go into the detail.
Tell Us Your Situation. We Will Tell You Which Lenders Will Say Yes.
Call: +44 1628 969 500Email: info@uk-mortgagebroker.co.uk
UK Mortgage Broker is a whole-of-market broker helping clients throughout the UK and globally to secure funding on UK property. We are directly authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.