Bradford & Bingley mortgages halves panel

Bradford & Bingley is to half the number of lenders on the panel of its new mortgage broking proposition to 25, after a survey found that most consumers feel the previous amount was unnecessarily large.

B&B said it selected its list of 25 lenders following a series of interviews with consumers and research among independent financial advisers.

The interviews revealed that 90 per cent of consumers claim they would be satisfied to pay a flat-rate fee for advice.

B&B's new proposition includes a flat-rate client fee of £190 and access to exclusive mortgage deals.

The firm established the mortgage proposition last May as part of its restructuring, which included the sale of B&B's subsidiary IFA operations, most recently Charcol.

B&B has 200 advisers and is targeting increasing this to 250 by the end of 2005. It is kicking-off a marketing campaign and recruitment drive in a bid to reach this goal.

B&B head of mortgages, David Bitner, told the MoneyMarketing website: "B&B has very deep pockets.

"We are not a small broker relying on five deals a week and we can see through any downturn in the market. Our drive for market share is very aggressive."