Its report found that 29% of adults who have had mortgage applications turned down by a direct lender have had their problems solved by a mortgage broker.
Countrywide said that the biggest reasons behind unsuccessful mortgage applications were insufficient earnings and income followed by a low credit score.
The survey also found that some optimism is returning to the wider housing market, with 77% of homeowners in the UK expecting the value of their home to rise or stay the same over the next 12 months.
Less than one quarter (23%) of adults who do not own a home expect to be able to purchase their own property in the next three years, with 45% of 18-24 year olds and 41% of 25-34 year olds unable to build a suitable deposit.
Grenville Turner, chief executive of Countrywide, commented: “The issue of deposit affordability remains the major barrier to purchasing a home for renters and we have been calling for some time now for meaningful mortgage targets, to strong-arm higher loan-to-value lending.
“More appropriate credit is urgently required in the housing market, but lending volumes for house purchases are only one third of what they were five years ago.
“Banks need to be encouraged to lend at more favourable rates, with the introduction of higher loan to value mortgage products, to enable prospective buyers with a deposit of 10% or even 5% get on the property ladder.
“Restoration of the mortgage market would help unlock the current stagnated property chain with the availability of more accessible mortgages, so that prospective property purchasers, both first-time buyers and downsizers, can buy their home at a price they can afford and in a location they want to live in.”
