Fifty per cent of potential homebuyers with adverse credit said they would speak to a broker for advice on getting a mortgage, Pepper Money has found.

The firm’s specialist lending study revealed that this figure is slightly down from last year’s study, when 58% said they would speak to a broker.

Pepper Money also found that the most popular ways of finding a broker were through recommendations from family and friends (47%), while 46% said they would use online research.

According to the study, the ability to access lenders that aren’t directly available to customers was the most popular reason for speaking to a broker (67%), but finding the best rate in the market (64%) was also favourable.

Director of intermediary relationships at Pepper Money, Rob Barnard, said: "There’s been a significant increase in consumer confidence year-on-year with 1.76 million people with adverse credit planning to buy a property in the next 12 months.

"However, there’s still more work for brokers and lenders to do to encourage customers to realise their mortgage ambitions. Especially when you consider the number of customers with adverse credit who say they would speak to a broker for advice is slightly lower than last year."

When discussing this contact, the majority of those surveyed said they would prefer to talk to brokers face-to-face (59%). Respondents also preferred email (58%) while 50% said that a telephone conversation would suffice.

However, people were divided when it comes to paying for mortgage advice. Almost two in five (38%) said that paying for the advice would depend on the broker, while 27% said they would prefer to use a broker who does not charge a fee.

A further 13% said they preferred to use a broker who does charge a fee.

Barnard concluded: "It seems people are realising the value of professional advice, with the results of the study indicating that customers aren’t put off by paying a fee to a broker for their services. In fact, some would proactively prefer to pay a fee as they believe it would secure them more independent advice."

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