Complexity is making mortgage advice more valuable, not less

There is an interesting contradiction developing in the UK mortgage market.

Technology is making it easier to search for products, lenders are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their use of data and automated decision-making, and consumers have access to more information than ever before. Yet at exactly the same time, the circumstances behind many mortgage applications are becoming more complex.

That makes good advice more important, not less.

Pepper Money's latest Specialist Lending Study reported that 30% of UK adults – more than 16 million people – have experienced adverse credit, with more than nine million of those incidents occurring within the previous three years. Perhaps more tellingly, 39% of people earning more than £75,000 have experienced a credit blip. Financial complexity clearly isn't restricted to lower-income households.

The wider mortgage numbers reinforce the point. Around 1.8 million fixed-rate mortgages are expected to mature during 2026, while the Bank of England reported 34,200 external remortgage approvals in June alone. At the same time, the effective rate on newly delivered mortgages stood at 4.35%.

Meanwhile, the buy-to-let market continues to evolve rather than disappear. UK Finance recorded 58,272 new BTL loans worth £10.8bn during Q1 2026, increases of 3.3% and 7% respectively year-on-year. Average rental yields increased from 6.93% to 7.21%, while the average rate on new BTL borrowing fell to 4.71%.

These aren't statistics which suggest a market where borrowers simply need somebody to find the cheapest rate.

They suggest a market requiring interpretation.

Increasing numbers of customers have variable income, historic credit issues, multiple income streams, portfolio properties, limited-company structures or circumstances which don't fit neatly into an automated decision tree.

The danger is that our industry confuses easier access to information with easier decision-making.

A sourcing system can identify products. AI can interrogate criteria. Technology can dramatically accelerate the journey. All of those developments should be welcomed.

But identifying a lender willing to consider a customer isn't the same as establishing the most appropriate solution.

This is where specialist knowledge becomes valuable.

For brokers, the opportunity isn't necessarily to become an expert in every area of specialist finance. It is to recognise complexity earlier and know when to collaborate with someone who deals with it every day.

We should also stop viewing a specialist referral as evidence that the original adviser couldn't solve the problem. Quite the opposite. Recognising when specialist expertise can improve a customer's outcome is good advice.

The mortgage market of the future will undoubtedly be more technologically enabled.

But it will also contain customers whose financial lives are increasingly difficult to fit inside traditional boxes.

Technology should therefore make advisers better equipped – not make advice redundant.

Because when circumstances become more complicated, customers don't simply need more products.

They need somebody who understands the choices.

Jason Berry
Group Sales Director