Face-to-Face Matters: What Lenders Need to Do Better for Specialist Brokers

The relationship between mortgage brokers and lenders has become considerably more remote since the pandemic – and for specialist brokers like Amar Dhanota of London FS, that shift has real consequences. Speaking to Mortgage Introducer ahead of Valentine’s Day, Amar was direct about what she would most like to see from lender partners: more face-to-face interaction.

Amar describes herself as a face-to-face broker by nature. She believes the in-person element of the lender relationship is not simply a preference but a practical necessity, particularly when dealing with cases that do not tick every standard box. Without that relationship, she explains, it becomes far harder to advocate for a borderline case. The informal trust and mutual understanding that builds through regular in-person contact is precisely what makes the difference when a case needs someone to go into bat for it internally. This relationship-led approach is central to how an independent mortgage broker London secures results on complex cases.

Since COVID accelerated the shift to remote-first working, she feels that many brokers have been left to muddle along on their own more than they should be. Her call is not for a return to the past wholesale, but for lenders to be more proactive about maintaining genuine partnerships with the brokers who place complex business with them. The quality of that relationship, she argues, directly determines whether difficult cases succeed or fail – and the industry is currently leaving value on the table by underinvesting in it.

Read the full feature on Mortgage Introducer.