As in previous surveys by the market researcher, building societies outperformed other lenders, scoring a 9.9 per cent rise in broker satisfaction levels on speed.
Levels of satisfaction among brokers on speed of processing for first-time buyer applications was up 8.9 per cent.
The increase in satisfaction for home moves was similar at 8.8 per cent.
While for remortgage cases, satisfaction was five per cent up on H2 2020.
The survey collected feedback from 597 brokers, asked about the last five lenders they attempted to place a case with, as well as about other providers and general market comments.
The research was conducted during April and May, with 99 lenders evaluated.
Smart Money People has tracked brokers’ satisfaction with lenders’ speed of service every six months since H2 2018. The highest market score was 75.8 per cent, recorded in H2 2018 and again in H2 2020. But satisfaction dropped to 67.2 per cent in H2 last year.
“Brokers appear satisfied with how lenders have resolved some of the issues faced last year, while lenders have gained breathing space from the stamp duty holiday extension to catch up on pipeline,” said Jacqueline Dewey, chief executive at Smart Money People.
“The end of last year was a perfect storm of uncertainty around the stamp duty holiday extension, incredibly high levels of demand and lenders still adapting to ways of working not predicted by even the worst case disaster scenarios,” Dewey said.
