Feedback on our broker pledges suggests they are working, says Santander’s Morris

In this article, David Morris, head of homes at Santander UK, looks back on the success of the pledges and how they can be evolved to continue supporting brokers. 

It’s been six months since we made our very public commitment to the broker community – a sector that sits at the heart of the UK mortgage market – and just under a year since I joined Santander. So, it’s a pertinent time to candidly reflect on our journey so far. 

While the mortgage market has seen significant flux already this year, with rate fluctuation, changes to affordability stress testing, and ongoing regulatory reforms, our commitment hasn’t changed. Our pledges – which were our promise to our intermediary partners that we would be a transparent and supportive partner – remain as strong a marker of what brokers can expect from us now as they were when we launched them. 

We knew when we went public with them that brokers would rightly be looking to hold us to account on these promises, so it’s a good time to take stock of how our actions have spoken louder than our words. 

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More than words 

At least 24 hours’ notice of product changes: 

• As of the start of August 2025, we’ve completed around 25 product relaunches – in all of them, we gave at least 24 hours’ notice of the changes to our broker partners. In the majority of cases, we gave more.

No dual pricing: 

• All rates have been available to customers, whether they’re applying through a broker or directly.

Improved PT process: 

• We’ve introduced early repayment charge (ERC)-free overpayments in the product transfer window
• We now display valuations in the online mortgage transfer service
• We’ve updated our product maturity letters, directing clients to our broker partners in the first instance
• Customers who have recently been in arrears can now arrange a new deal with us via a broker

The feedback I’m hearing across the board from both our key account managers and brokers – whether that’s at events or through our LinkedIn Live sessions – suggests that we’re not the only ones who believe our pledges are working. As a data man, I’ll always defer to the numbers, which show our net promoter score (NPS) improving across the board, particularly when it comes to the timeliness of communicating rate changes, where we’ve moved from third to second. 

I’m proud of what the team has achieved in H1. But we’re not ones to rest on our laurels. We want feedback – good or bad – so we can keep improving. While I can’t guarantee what the next six months will look like in the market, I can guarantee even more proof that we’re back, we’re serious, and we’re here to stay.