For journalists and researchers
Press and data
MortgageMatch is an independent directory of UK mortgage brokers and advisers. The figures below are generated from our own directory when this page loads, and every one of them comes with the method used to produce it. They are free to quote, with a link back to mortgagematch.org.
Figures generated 16 September 2026.
What this page is not
We publish no market research, no consumer survey and no industry estimate, because we have not carried any out. Nothing here describes the UK mortgage market as a whole. Every number below describes the MortgageMatch directory, and the caveats are stated in full under methodology.
Directory snapshot
1,406
Broker and adviser firms in the directory
Distinct firms held in our database.
807
Named advisers recorded at those firms
Individual adviser contacts attached to a firm.
1,406
Firm listings publicly searchable today
The number /browse returns with no filters applied.
60
UK towns and cities with a dedicated page
Spanning 16 regions and nations.
13
Mortgage specialisms tracked per firm
A fixed taxonomy applied to every listing.
Fee transparency across listed firms
One thing a directory can measure honestly is how openly firms publish the way they are paid. Of the 1,406 firm listings searchable today, this is how many have a fee structure recorded against them.
| Fee structure | Firms | Share of listings |
|---|---|---|
| Advertise a fee-free service | 147 | 10% |
| Advertise a client fee | 240 | 17% |
| Do not publish a fee structure | 1,019 | 72% |
"Do not publish a fee structure" means we could not find the information the firm makes public, not that the firm is expensive or evasive. Advisers must disclose their charges to a client in writing regardless.
What listed firms say they specialise in
Firms can carry more than one specialism, so these do not sum to the total. This is a measure of what brokers advertise, not of how many cases of each type are written.
| Specialism | Firms listing it | Share of listings |
|---|---|---|
| Buy-to-Let | 876 | 62% |
| First-Time Buyers | 873 | 62% |
| Residential | 790 | 56% |
| Self-Employed | 403 | 29% |
| Bad / Adverse Credit | 316 | 22% |
| Later Life / Equity Release | 316 | 22% |
| Commercial | 287 | 20% |
| Help to Buy | 156 | 11% |
| Fixed Rate | 3 | 0% |
| Variable Rate | 3 | 0% |
| Shared Ownership | 2 | 0% |
| Interest-Only | 1 | 0% |
| Tracker | 1 | 0% |
Methodology
Where the listings come from. The directory is built from publicly available business information published by UK firms that advertise mortgage advice on their own websites, plus details a firm has given us directly or confirmed when claiming its listing.
How the counts are produced. The firm, adviser and listing counts are read from the database when this page is requested. The fee and specialism breakdowns are the same queries the public search on /browse runs, so any figure here can be reproduced by applying the matching filter yourself.
Town and specialism counts. The number of towns and cities and the number of specialisms are counts of fixed lists we maintain in the site itself, not estimates.
Known limits. The directory is not a census of UK mortgage brokers, and it is not weighted to be representative of the market. Coverage is denser in larger towns. Fee and specialism fields reflect what a firm advertises, so a blank field means missing information rather than an absence of that service. Listings change as firms are added, corrected and removed, so cite the date shown above alongside any figure.
Background we can stand behind
These are explanatory points about how UK mortgage broking works, not statistics. They are attributable to MortgageMatch as background or comment.
How brokers are paid
A fee-free broker is paid only by the lender, through a procuration fee when the mortgage completes. A fee-charging broker takes a fee from the client as well, or instead. Neither model is inherently better value for a consumer, and the question worth asking is what the total cost is and when it becomes payable.
Whole-of-market versus panel advice
A whole-of-market adviser can look across most lenders. A panel or tied adviser is limited to a set list. Both are legitimate, but a consumer should know which they are speaking to before they accept a recommendation.
Checking an adviser
Mortgage advice is a regulated activity, so the firm advising you should appear on the FCA Financial Services Register with the right permissions. Checking it takes under a minute and is the single most useful thing a consumer can do before taking advice.
Why lead auctions matter to consumers
Much of the online mortgage comparison market is funded by selling enquiries to brokers, which is why a single form can produce several unsolicited calls. MortgageMatch takes no lead-generation fees and sells no enquiry data, and brokers cannot pay to rank in our directory.
Using this material
You are welcome to quote the figures and the background comment above in journalism and research, with attribution to MortgageMatch and a link to mortgagematch.org. Please cite the generation date, because the numbers move as the directory changes. A suggested form of words: "according to the MortgageMatch directory of UK mortgage brokers (16 September 2026)".
Talk to us
Working on a mortgage or housing story? Email contact@mortgagematch.org and tell us what you need. We can usually break the directory down by region, town or specialism, and we will say plainly when a question is one our data cannot answer.
How we source and correct everything we publish is set out in our editorial standards. MortgageMatch is a directory, not a regulated adviser, and does not give mortgage advice.