There’s growing confidence amongst advisers in their own firms – but confidence in the wider mortgage market is dipping.
The latest Mortgage Market Tracker report from the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) shows intermediary confidence softened slightly in Q4 2025, although sentiment improved steadily towards the end of the year.
Overall confidence in the outlook for the mortgage industry edged down during the quarter and remains below the levels typically seen between 2015 and 2019.
Confidence in the outlook for advisers’ own firms continued to outperform sentiment about the wider mortgage market and improved throughout the quarter.
In December, 57% of advisers said they felt ‘very’ confident and 43% ‘fairly confident’ about the outlook for their business, underlining the resilience of broker businesses despite economic uncertainty.
Business volumes eased modestly during the quarter. The average intermediary placed 89 mortgage cases over the past 12 months, down from 92 in Q3 – but well ahead of the 80 cases averaged in Q4 2024.
While activity levels dipped slightly on a quarterly basis, business flow data points to improved efficiency across the mortgage process.
The proportion of Decisions in Principle resulting in a DIP accept rose to 86%, the highest recorded in the past three years. Overall conversion from DIP to completion increased to 40%, up four percentage points on Q3, while full application to completion conversion improved from 62% to 65%.
These figures suggest that although advisers may be handling slightly fewer cases, a greater proportion are successfully progressing through to completion.
Kate Davies, executive director of IMLA, comments: “It is understandable that confidence in the wider mortgage market was somewhat subdued at the end of last year. In Q4, advisers were operating against a backdrop of economic uncertainty exacerbated by the run-up to and announcement of November’s Budget, which put a dampener on investment and growth throughout the second half of 2025.
“In fact, according to IMLA’s own figures as recorded in the New Normal Report, gross mortgage lending increased by 19% in 2025, and is forecast to grow another 11% this year.
“As we move further into 2026, with the Budget (and Budget speculation) firmly behind us, falling interest rates and greater clarity around fiscal policy should help support a firmer recovery in sentiment regarding the wider mortgage market.
“Broker confidence in their own businesses has remained extremely robust throughout, underlining the resilience of intermediary firms despite policy uncertainty and an unsettled economic environment.
“As the market grows this year, intermediaries will continue to play a central role in guiding around 90% of borrowers through a complex and competitive lending landscape.”
