More than half of buyers pressured to use estate agents' brokers

A recent study by Boon Brokers, where 1,000 people who had used an estate agent over the last year were surveyed, showed that a whopping 52% said they were pressured into using the estate agents’ in-house mortgage broker. Astonishingly, 18% of those people said they were told that only if they used their in-house broker would their offer be considered.

This research follows on from the BBC Panorama: Undercover Estate Agent, which exposed two major estate agencies of breaking industry codes of conduct by pressuring buyers to use their own brokers.

Almost all of those surveyed (96%) said they felt stricter regulations for estate agents were needed, with 85% unaware that estate agents are not formally regulated unlike mortgage brokers.

60% felt that everyone should have fair access to view a property, irrespective of the mortgage broker they use.

Just to reiterate, those looking to purchase a property should not be made to feel as though they have to use their estate agents’ in-house mortgage broker. Buyers are entitled to choose which broker they want to use. Our advice would be to do your research, check out reviews and recommendations, and ask lots of questions.

Recent posts

A mortgage ‘stress test’ revolves around predicting future ‘affordability’. It is seen by many borrowers as just another hurdle to overcome, but it’s important to understand why it was introduced and who it is meant to protect.

There are several scenarios for a landlord where standard buy-to-let lending isn’t enough for their investment. For more complex properties, ownership structures, or borrowing circumstances, a specialist buy-to-let mortgage may provide options that are not available through mainstream lenders.

Here are the lowest fixed mortgage rates of the week, available to first-time buyers, home movers, buy-to-let, and those remortgaging.

Call us for more information: 01628 507477 or email: team@mortgagerequired.com.

Housing Secretary Angela Rayner has announced a new measure to protect leaseholders in England and Wales from high fees and poorly regulated property management companies.

Saturday 26th September, Andy Burnham announced a new equity loan scheme called “Your First Home”. The scheme, which will be confirmed at next month’s budget, is aimed at first-time buyers looking to purchase a new-build property from a developer signed up to the scheme.

Losing your job or finding yourself ‘between jobs’ is, unsurprisingly, a stressful place to be. Keeping a cool head and taking action is important.

This price gap between the cost of houses and flats is the biggest it has ever been. Houses are now costing 1.7 times more than a flat, which is 0.4 times higher than 10 years ago

Take a look at our list of houses vs. flats per area.

We have seen several lenders increase their mortgage rates over the last couple of weeks. This suggests mortgage rates are likely to rise.

Although nothing is set in stone, lender repricing, rising swap rates, and continued economic uncertainty suggest borrowers should prepare for higher mortgage costs.