If you use a mortgage broker, like United Mortgages®, you get access to 100+ lenders, whole-of-market advice, and a recommendation based on your specific circumstances. If you go direct to your bank, you get that bank’s products.

That’s the difference. Everything else is detail.

Lloyds Banking Group announced today that they’re partnering with Connells Group and LMS to launch a fully digital homebuying service. One platform, shared data, faster completions. The housing transaction process has needed modernising for years, and getting lenders, conveyancers, and estate agents to stop asking you for the same documents repeatedly is genuinely overdue.

That’s what United Mortgages® is all about.

But here’s what the announcement actually is: Lloyds making it faster and easier to get a Lloyds mortgage.

Faster completion is a real improvement. It doesn’t change the fundamental question of whether a particular bank’s product is the right product for you.

One Lender vs the Whole Market

When you apply direct to a bank, you’re asking a single institution to assess your case against their criteria and offer you whatever fits their product range.

If their products suit your situation, fine. If they don’t, you’ll either be declined or accept a deal that isn’t the best available – and you may never know the difference.

The mortgage market involves hundreds of lenders with meaningfully different criteria, affordability models, and products (subject to individual circumstances and lender eligibility). What one lender treats as a complication, another handles routinely.

The right lender for a contractor is different from the right lender for an NHS nurse with bank shifts; which is different again from the right lender for someone remortgaging with a complex income history.

Banks are not interchangeable. Neither are their products.

A whole-of-market broker searches across all of that. At United Mortgages®, we search across 100+ lenders – because the right one for you probably isn’t the first one you thought of.

Digital Convenience Is Table Stakes Now

The Lloyds announcement emphasises the experience: upload once, no repetitive document requests, end-to-end transparency.

That’s the right direction. But the digital experience gap between a good broker and a high street bank has been closing for years. Applying from your phone, signing digitally, tracking your application without calling anyone – these are baseline expectations now, not competitive advantages.

The meaningful question isn’t how you apply. It’s what rate and product you end up with when the process completes.

A slicker form that gets you to the wrong mortgage faster is not an upgrade. We built United Mortgages® around getting you to the right lender – digitally, quickly, and without closing at 5pm.

What “Whole of Market” Actually Means in Practice

A broker who understands your situation will match you to a lender whose criteria fits before you apply. This matters more than most people realise.

A declined application affects your credit profile. Applying to several lenders in sequence is not a neutral process. Getting it right first time is the goal; knowing which lender to approach is most of the work.

It also means knowing which lenders are currently processing quickly, which are backlogged, and which have recently tightened their underwriting in ways that aren’t publicly advertised. The mortgage market moves. Your bank’s brochure doesn’t.

For income types that don’t fit a standard payslip – contractors, self-employed, NHS staff with shift enhancements – the right lender can materially change what you’re able to borrow, subject to your circumstances and lender criteria.

Lloyds’ platform will tell you what Lloyds will lend you. At United Mortgages®, we tell you what the market will lend you.

Those are different answers. Often significantly so.

The Bottom Line

Going digital doesn’t mean going whole-of-market. The Lloyds service is a better version of what going direct to Lloyds has always been. For some buyers in straightforward circumstances with an existing Lloyds relationship, that may well be sufficient.

For everyone else – anyone whose income has any complexity, anyone who wants to know whether a better rate exists elsewhere, anyone buying in a competitive market where the strength of your application matters – speaking to a whole-of-market broker first costs nothing and gives you the complete picture.

That’s exactly what United Mortgages® are here for.

You can start an Agreement in Principle with us at any time to understand your borrowing position. We’re available until 8pm, 365 days a year, and we search 100+ lenders.

Want to run the numbers first? Our mortgage calculators can give you a starting point before reaching out.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I still need a mortgage broker if my bank has gone digital?

Yes. A digital bank journey makes it faster to apply to one lender. A mortgage broker searches the whole market – 100+ lenders – to find the right product for your circumstances. Speed of application is not the same as quality of outcome.

Is it better to use a mortgage broker or go direct to a bank?

For most borrowers, a whole-of-market broker will find better rates and more suitable products than going direct to a single lender. Going direct only makes sense if you already know that lender’s products fit your specific situation – income type, deposit size, credit history – and you’re not interested in comparing alternatives.

What does a whole-of-market mortgage broker do that a bank can’t?

A whole-of-market broker has access to products from 100+ lenders and can match your circumstances to the lender most likely to approve you on the best available terms. A bank can only offer its own products. If those products suit you, fine. If better options exist elsewhere, you won’t find out by going direct.

Will using a mortgage broker slow down my application?

Not typically. A good broker handles the application process, knows which lenders are processing quickly, and submits to the right lender first time. Applying to the wrong lender – or being declined and reapplying elsewhere – costs significantly more time than the broker intermediary step.

Mortgage rates and lender criteria are subject to change and depend on individual circumstances. This article is for information only and does not constitute regulated mortgage advice.
🚫 Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. Visit https://lnkd.in/eRGNMErp for more information. Terms and conditions apply. This post is for information purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. United Mortgages Limited is an appointed representative of Homekey Mortgage Solutions Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under FRN 967597.