Broker confidence falters despite record-high business levels, IMLA finds
Brokers placed 105 mortgage cases on average in Q2, up from 96, the highest level of business since Q1 2010, industry insight found.
The latest Mortgage Market Tracker from the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) found that mortgage advisers reported an average of 110 cases per year, compared to 71 among independent financial advisers (IFAs).
The IMLA said this rise in business activity was due to an “unusually busy start to 2026” amid geopolitical uncertainty and volatility in swap rates, which encouraged borrowers to bring forward mortgage activity.
The organisation said this also aligned with data from the Bank of England, which reported a £9bn growth in gross mortgage lending to £77bn.
Confidence in mortgage market slumps
Although business levels were strong during the period, brokers had less confidence about the wider outlook. The IMLA observed a decline in net confidence in the mortgage sector, falling by 13 points to 66, while confidence in the intermediary sector dropped by 12 points to 70.
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Advisers’ confidence in their own firms did not suffer as much, with a seven-point decline to 88.
Kate Davies, executive director of the IMLA, said: “The most striking feature of these figures is the contrast between sentiment and activity. Intermediaries’ confidence has fallen, but they are busier than ever, and conversion rates are improving.
“The fall in confidence is understandable given the unsettled economic and political backdrop. The conflict in the Middle East has pushed up energy prices and inflation expectations, reducing hopes of further cuts to bank rate this year, although the economic impact has so far proved less severe than initially feared. At home, another period of political uncertainty culminated in our seventh change of Prime Minister in a decade.”
Mortgage pipeline remains steady
The report found that intermediaries managed an average of 29 decisions in principle (DIPs) in Q1, up from 26 in Q1, with a conversion rate of 40%, compared to 37% during the last quarter.
This meant around 11 of every 29 DIPs progressed through to completion.
The flow of business coming through also improved, with the share of DIP accepts progressing to full mortgage application increased from 73% to 78%. This was the first rise in a year.
Meanwhile, the proportion of full applications resulting in an offer rose from 84% to 87%.
The overall application-to-completion conversion rate remained at 61%.
Intermediaries who primarily deal in the first-time buyer market saw a notable improvement in conversion, with 39% of DIPs progressing to completion, a 10-percentage-point rise on the previous quarter.
Davies continued on to say that the “resilience of the mortgage market is encouraging”, adding: “Andy Burnham has arrived in Downing Street on a wave of optimism and with an ambition to get the economy moving. It will be interesting to see whether that more positive mood feeds through into intermediary confidence in Q3.”
