Burned out: Struggling brokers need care – Mortgage Strategy
For mortgage brokers, the first half of this year brought back unhappy memories of 2022.
The US-Israeli strikes on Iran at the end of February triggered a period of market turbulence and rapid rate hikes that had echoes of the Liz Truss Mini-Budget three and a half years earlier.
While the turmoil was not as extreme as last time, advisers found themselves once again fielding calls from anxious clients and working late into the evening to get cases submitted before rates were pulled.
It was a shock for recently qualified brokers, who had until this point experienced only the relative calm of the past few years.
This isn’t a temporary issue. It has become a structural challenge for our industry
Association of Mortgage Intermediaries chief executive Stephanie Charman says she saw advisers taking to social media to vent their feelings.
“Some were like a rabbit in the headlights,” she says, “asking, ‘Is this really what the job is like?’ ‘Gosh, is this really what I’m looking for?’”
Inherent pressures
Many pressures are inherent to the role. Brokers are helping clients at one of the most stressful times in their life with one of the highest-stakes, most emotionally charged transactions they are ever likely to undertake. Missed deadlines can cost tens of thousands of pounds or mean losing out on a dream property.
During periods of financial volatility all of these aspects are amplified. Timelines are tighter, the potential costs of failing to secure rates are greater, and the workload is even heavier as multiple clients need to take action at the same time.
“The result is a profession that often involves firefighting,” says Mortgage Industry Mental Health Charter (MIMHC) co-founder and Crystal Specialist Finance group sales director Jason Berry. “Advisers are absorbing clients’ anxiety, managing uncertainty and trying to deliver positive outcomes in an increasingly complex market.
There are multiple reasons why a case may derail at any point, all of which adds a great deal of workload
“The mortgage process has always been demanding because there’s no perfect pathway from application to completion. Every case has multiple moving parts involving clients, lenders, solicitors, valuers and estate agents, many of which sit outside the adviser’s control.”
Recognising the toll this was taking on many brokers and the lack of help available, Berry and a group of industry leaders launched the MIMHC in 2021.
Before they could meaningfully boost support and target the right areas, it was important to take the measure of the industry’s mental health, so they initiated an annual survey. The latest of these, from 2025, found that 22% of mortgage professionals reported their mental health as ‘poor’ or ‘of concern’, compared to 23% in the first poll from 2022.
Also broadly unchanged from the first survey, 37% described their wellbeing as ‘satisfactory’ and 41% as either ‘good’ or ‘excellent’.
For Berry, the fact that more than one in five mortgage professionals are describing their wellbeing in negative terms is extremely worrying and shows a workforce under significant mental strain.
Some new advisers were like a rabbit in the headlights, asking, ‘Is this really what the job is like?’
Although the survey does not go back far enough for comparison, he believes brokers’ mental health is generally worse than it was 10 years ago in the pre-pandemic era.
“There was a widespread belief that post-Covid flexible and home working would improve work/life balance and wellbeing. For many people, however, that has proved to be something of a false dawn,” says Berry.
“The boundaries between work and home have become increasingly blurred. Many advisers are working longer hours and finding it harder to switch off.”
Consistent trends
As Berry awaits the results of the fifth annual MIMHC survey, which will be published in September 2026, he notes that over the past four years the trends have been remarkably consistent.
“That tells us this isn’t a temporary issue. It has become a structural challenge for our industry,” he says.
Brightstar Group chief people officer Clare Jupp also feels that the role of the adviser has become more demanding.
People are more likely than ever to access support because they know where to find it
Asked whether she feels brokers’ mental health is better or worse than it was a decade ago, she says: “Regrettably, I would say worse.
“Brokers have had multiple pressures to deal with throughout the past 10 years, which I believe have all made the job much more difficult to do, caused more stress and subsequently affected their mental health.”
Jupp points to a succession of challenges, from stamp duty holidays and interest rate shocks to the growing compliance burden from new regulation such as the Financial Conduct Authority’s Consumer Duty, however important that may be.
More work, same pay
The homebuying process itself has also become more fragile, with the rate of property sales falling through between offer and completion now 58%, according to the Open Property Data Association’s analysis of 5,000 transactions.
With the average fallthrough, buyers and sellers lose an estimated £2,830 in legal fees, surveys, mortgage costs and other expenses. For advisers, it means more work for the same pay.
“In the past, a broker could place a client and normally only a downvaluation or the borrower’s personal decision to not proceed would hinder the progress of the case,” says Jupp.
Every change we make has consequences for the people expected to deliver it
“Now, though, there are multiple reasons why a case may derail at any point, all of which adds a great deal of workload for the broker, who also has to deal with the emotional stress of the client.”
Remortgaging has also changed. The Mortgage Charter came into force in June 2023, giving millions of borrowers the chance to lock in a new deal up to six months before the expiry of their current rate, and to switch, penalty free, should a better deal become available in the meantime.
Although the policy gave borrowers more flexibility at a time of fluctuating rates, it produced a lot of additional work for advisers who had to run the comparisons and complete the documentation again and again.
Most lenders have reduced the window to three or four months, but brokers can still find themselves doing double the work for the same pay.
Advisers are also financially exposed to fluctuations in transaction volumes and housing market activity.
“When volumes reduce or cases fall through, many advisers immediately feel the financial consequences,” says Berry.
Part of the problem is that we start having the mental health conversations right in the middle of those difficult periods
“Every year our survey highlights that financial wellbeing is one of the strongest predictors of overall mental wellbeing, second only to the quality of an individual’s relationship with their partner. That illustrates how closely financial security and mental health are connected.”
Late nights and weekends
Pepper Money sales director Paul Adams says he can tell how market turbulence has impacted brokers’ working patterns from the times at which cases are submitted to the lender.
In the aftermath of the Mini-Budget, Pepper saw submissions stretching into evenings and weekends as advisers worked hard to secure rates for clients. Those habits have continued ever since.
“We used to get to mid-afternoon and we were at 80% of our levels for that day,” says Adams. “Now we can double that number because brokers are working so late. We have a busy Saturday and Sunday now, whereas we never used to have many cases at the weekend.”
We’ve had brokers break down in tears in the audience and I think that is a sign of success because it shows they are able to let go
Despite the growing pressures, one positive takeaway from the MIMHC survey is that the industry’s engagement with the subject of mental health is increasing.
Employer participation in wellbeing initiatives has risen to around 70% from just 52% a year ago, according to respondents.
Jupp says the findings reflect what she is seeing too.
“Mental health awareness and support have never been better,” she says.
“This is due to more conversations about mental health, the honesty and transparency of industry folk, particularly high-profile ones, initiatives like the MIMHC and a more open, non-judgmental culture.
“It means individuals are more likely than ever to access support because they know where to find it.”
Openness of leaders
Berry agrees with Jupp’s comments.
“When we launched the Mortgage Industry Mental Health Charter in 2021, conversations around mental health were still uncomfortable for many organisations,” he says.
“Today we see far more leaders openly discussing wellbeing, investing in support and recognising that great performance and great wellbeing are not competing priorities — they reinforce one another.”
When volumes reduce or cases fall through, many advisers immediately feel the financial consequences
One of those to have spoken publicly about his own struggles with mental health is Adams. On podcasts and social media posts, and at Pepper’s broker wellbeing retreats, he shared his experience of alcohol addiction and the four weeks he spent in rehab, partly in the hope that it would encourage others to seek support sooner than he had.
Pepper’s retreats were launched in the wake of the Mini-Budget mayhem. They have included sessions with cognitive behavioural therapists, sleep scientists and breathwork practitioners.
“We don’t talk about mortgages,” says Adams. “It’s all about us as human beings.
“We’ve had brokers break down in tears in the audience and I think that is a sign of success because it shows they are able to let go and get all their emotions out.”
Initially, Adams admits, he was nervous about speaking so frankly about his personal experience.
Mental health awareness and support have never been better
“I worried that people might think, ‘Who is this weird guy sharing all of this?’” he says.
Every time Adams tells his story, however, the response quickly demonstrates the value of having done so.
“People contact me,” he says, “usually via LinkedIn initially, to say, ‘I’d really like to just have a coffee or a chat, because I’m actually going through something myself, or someone in my family is going through it.’”
Listening ear
Making sure there is always someone to listen when needed is something the MIMHC is striving to achieve within the industry.
The campaign’s Walk &Talk event raised more than £17,000 this year, with the team of industry figures covering 141 miles of the Grand Union Canal between London and Birmingham. Some of the money raised will go towards the MIMHC’s push to train mental health first aiders within the mortgage industry, with more than 100 places on the two-day course fully funded for 2026.
Movement to Move
Mortgage Strategy and the MIMHC have also launched a joint initiative, Movement to Move, to encourage brokers and other mortgage colleagues to get together and ‘move more’ through group activities and socials that support their wellbeing.
For Charman, it is imperative that the industry keeps up the momentum on mental health support during quieter times, rather than wait until the next crisis.
“Part of the problem is that we start having the conversations right in the middle of those difficult periods and it is like trying to paint the plane while it is in the air,” she says.
We have a busy Saturday and Sunday now, whereas we never used to have many cases at the weekend
The mortgage industry cannot control inflation, swap rates or geopolitics. However, Berry believes that business leaders can make a difference by considering wellbeing as part of every significant decision.
He says: “Every change we make — whether that’s introducing new technology, targets, compliance processes or organisational restructuring — has consequences for the people expected to deliver it.
“Alongside asking, ‘Will this improve business performance?’ we should also ask, ‘What impact could this have on our people’s wellbeing?’”
Berry adds: “If mental health becomes part of everyday business decision making, rather than something discussed only when people are struggling, I genuinely believe we will create a healthier, higher-performing and more sustainable mortgage profession.”
Complete the Mortgage Industry Mental Health Survey 2026 now.
Go to: www.surveymonkey.com/r/MIMHC-Survey-2026
Pepper Money will donate £2 to the MIMHC for each one completed.
This article featured in the July/August 2026 edition of Mortgage Strategy.
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