Mortgage Advice: Exclusive — Broker firms up 40% since 2016 as multi-adviser teams reshape the market

On a cramped desk in a suburban office, a newly hired adviser scrolls through a client spreadsheet while a landlord on the phone asks about options for a complex portfolio. This small scene captures how mortgage advice has shifted from single-handed transactions to team-based, strategic work, driven by changes in market structure and the pressures facing landlords.

Mortgage Advice: Why are firms adding advisers?

Short answer: firms are expanding because the intermediary market itself has grown and the work has become more demanding.

Analysis of Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) retail intermediary market data shows broker firms have expanded markedly since 2016. The number of firms in the 2–5-adviser band rose by 60% from 2016 to 712 firms in 2024, taking that cohort to about 38% of the broker market, up from 33% in 2016. One-adviser bands made up 55% of the market in 2016 but that share has been slowly falling since 2022, while roughly 13% of firms now have 6–50 advisers and 2% have more than 50 advisers, levels that have remained roughly stable.

Stephanie Charman, chief executive of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI), offers context for why adviser numbers have risen: “It is unsurprising that smaller intermediary firms have increased their adviser numbers. Over the past few years, intermediaries have had to navigate a period of significant change. ” She points to higher interest rates, ongoing rate uncertainty, shifts from remortgaging to product transfers, and regulatory developments expanding adviser responsibilities.

Neil Hoare, sales director at LSL Financial Services, traces part of the change to the industry’s employment patterns after the financial crisis between 2007 and 2009. “If you are working for yourself in a firm, if you have the skill set and ambition, then why wouldn’t you want to set up on your own?” he said, while noting a continuing industry challenge: “it’s hard to find good advisers. “

How should brokers respond as landlords say they’re ‘being attacked from both sides’?

Short answer: by shifting from transactional mortgage advice to broader, portfolio-aware support.

Buy-to-let landlords increasingly operate like small businesses, and advisers are being urged to adapt. Jeni Browne, sales director at Mortgage Finance Brokers, described landlords’ mood succinctly: “For portfolio landlords, it feels like they’re being attacked from all sides, taxation, legislation, interest rates, and now large corporates entering the market. “

Euan Stewart, mortgage and protection adviser at Perth Mortgage Centre, said the pressures go beyond refinancing mechanics: “Refinancing pressure is now just one part of a wider structural shift in the Scottish buy-to-let market. ” He cited tougher regulatory burdens, rent controls, and tax changes that make long-term forecasting harder, noting that landlords “now need to operate more like SMEs rather than passive investors. ”

That evolution changes what effective mortgage advice looks like. Brokers are being asked to recognise how mortgage structures interact with tax planning and portfolio strategy, even if they do not provide tax advice themselves. The increased administrative demand and specialist skills implied by the data and the comments from industry leaders help explain why more intermediary firms are choosing to grow adviser teams.

At the same time, the market faces recruitment and retention challenges. Hoare warned that the next generation may not see brokerage as the career it once was and urged firms to focus on retaining skilled advisers. Charman stressed the balance firms must strike between delivering day-to-day services and working on the business amid “broadening cost pressures. ” She also noted resilient demand for advice as consumer confidence shows signs of improvement.

Back at the small office, the adviser ends the call and turns to a colleague to map the landlord’s next steps — a meeting that will now include mortgage structuring, a strategist’s checklist, and a referral to tax expertise. The scene has the same cramped desk and ringing phone, but a different ambition: to turn mortgage advice into a strategic service that helps clients navigate an industry that has grown and become more complex.