Most first-time buyers happy with their lenders

Most (87%) first-time buyers were positive about their mortgage lender, with a third saying they were ‘very satisfied’.

Most first-time buyers happy with their lenders

The vast majority of first-time buyers are satisfied with their mortgage provider, data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders has found.

Most (87%) first-time buyers were positive about their mortgage lender, with a third saying they were ‘very satisfied’.

Just 1% were ‘very dissatisfied’.

Bob Pannell, chief economist at the CML, wrote for the trade body's News & Views section of its website: “The vast majority of recent first-time buyers appear to be pretty happy with their mortgage provider.

“And if we combine the results to produce an overall weighting of satisfaction, the evidence is one of progressive modest improvement since 2014.”

First-time buyers scored lenders highly on ‘professionalism’, ‘helpfulness of staff’ and ‘being friendly’.

But apparently lenders aren’t good at ‘listening to your problems’ or ‘never disappointing you’.

Pannell explained: “Lenders appear to score less strongly on issues that cluster broadly around customer empowerment and engagement.

“This is an area where consumer expectations are likely to be evolving rapidly, and influenced powerfully by developments in other sectors and the growth of digital technologies.

“Given their age profile, first-time buyers may be especially discerning in this respect.”

The CML has surveyed first-time buyers' experiences for the past three years.