This much you would be able to do on your own, given the time and the right mortgage comparison websites. However, this can be time consuming and you will then have to follow up your initial search results in person, one at a time, on the phone or on lender's website. A mortgage broker will be able to do the same more quickly, sometimes using specially designed software to search the entire market for you. In addition, unless you know a lot about the different types of mortgage, you may find yourself out of your depth very quickly – adding more time and frustration to what can be an already fraught job.

These are not the only advantages. If you are looking to arrange your own mortgage, you will effectively be walking off the street into a bank or building society and asking the lender to give you a six-figure loan. Needless to say – particularly in these belt-tightening times – many may turn you away. Whether their decision is warranted or not is neither here nor there; many just will not want to take what they perceive as an unnecessary risk, and their criteria for deciding that might be very different to yours.

Time, money, information: how mortgage brokers can help

Every lender you approach will require you to fill out their series of application forms – a time-consuming business. Most of these will come to nothing, as you only need one mortgage but may have to approach many companies in the course of your search. A mortgage broker, on the other hand, will ask you to fill out their forms only once. When they have this information, they can use it to search for different quotes.

They will also have worked to establish relationships with providers, and will know which are most likely to give you a mortgage for your particular financial and life circumstances. Because they have a track record with their lenders – and a reputation they wish to preserve – it makes no sense for them to send lenders prospective borrowers who are likely to default on their loans.

This means that the lender is likely to trust the broker far more than they would trust you if you contacted them directly. Once the broker knows enough about you, it is their job to fight in your corner to convince the relevant lender that you are a good match. Not only this, but they will compare best mortgage deals across the whole market, including some deals that are available exclusively to them as a mortgage broker, that you would not have otherwise found in your own research. A mortgage broker can locate exclusive deals and then secure them on your behalf.