Halifax has clinched the title of best overall broker experience, as broker satisfaction with lenders climbs to its highest level since 2020
Halifax has once again been crowned brokers’ top choice, taking the title of best mainstream lender and best overall broker experience in Smart Money People’s H2 2025 Mortgage Lender Benchmark.
Smart Money People – the UK’s largest financial services review platform – gathered views from 1,040 brokers across 537 firms for its fifteenth bi-annual study, covering 120 lenders and representing 98% of UK gross mortgage lending.
Overall satisfaction with lenders has climbed to 4.25 out of 5, the highest level seen since 2020, while the all‑lender Broker Experience Index has risen 0.4 points to 71.0.
Mainstream lenders lead the way with the highest Broker Experience Index score of 72.4, closely followed by buy-to-let specialists at 72.1 and building societies at 71.2. The average Net Promoter Score (NPS) for all lenders has also edged up, reaching +41.3 in H2 2025.
The benchmark, which tracks broker sentiment on areas such as speed, service, digital tools and support, highlights the lenders that brokers say are consistently delivering. Alongside Halifax’s double win, Coventry Building Society was named best building society lender, Pure Retirement took best later life lender, Pepper Money was recognised as best specialist lender, BM Solutions retained its top spot in buy-to-let specialist, and Allica Bank remained the leading bridging/commercial lender. Atom Bank was also named best digital‑first lender.
Jake Sandford, Head of Data and Analytics at Smart Money People, commented:
“With overall satisfaction across the industry remaining high, it’s encouraging that mainstream lenders, like Halifax are leading the way. With lenders in this group receiving a high proportion of business written by mortgage brokers, it’s clear that the experience they offer to brokers matters and is an area that they place huge importance in.
“In addition, it’s always encouraging to see lenders such as Allica Bank and Pepper Money retain their top spots, as providing a consistent service offering is important to brokers and helps these lenders differentiate themselves in such a competitive environment.”
