The call comes as advisers increasingly face mortgage underwriters who appear to be working independently and outside lending criteria agreed by lender’s Credit Committees. This action is said to be stopping low-risk borrowers from accessing mortgage finance.

Email Mortgages has evidence that lenders are accepting offers in principle via online systems only for underwriting staff to then change the criteria for the product, pushing the finance out of reach for many would-be borrowers.

Underwriters are reportedly making increasingly random checks to the point of declinature under the misguided principle of ‘protecting’ the lender from loans more likely to become delinquent.

The brokerage is now concerned that with market activity and buyer interest slowly on the increase, many lenders are ill-prepared and disinclined to offer the finance which will see the mortgage market recover in a much quicker timescale.

Michael White, Chief Executive at Email Mortgages, commented:“We have been aware for some time that lenders are risk-averse however this has been taken to a new level in recent weeks with the action of some underwriting departments beggaring belief.

“We certainly do not suggest that a lender should not have tightened credit policy in the current environment yet we would request that if the original criterion is not sufficient it should be changed transparently, for example, by lowering the LTV, increasing the rates or reducing the income multiples.

“At least this would provide an up-front set of criteria to work from, rather than the present clandestine situation where it has become the norm for some underwriters to impose random status checks on already agreed cases in order to decline the borrower’s application at all costs.

“We had a recent case of a first-time buyer couple who were looking to borrow £105k on an asking price of £155k. The couple had saved up £50k as a deposit, earn sufficient income per year and had an acceptance-in-principle generated online from a lender.

“Since the application has been in the hands of the underwriting department, the couple have been treated appallingly having to provide continuous proof of income and having the nature of their salaries brought into question. It would seem that the entire aim of this lender has been to find a way to turn down the loan, which let us not forget, is 68% LTV.

“This would appear to be another case of lenders offering ‘phantom mortgages’ and is indicative of many organisations where the culture is, ‘You can’t get into trouble if you say no’. This is not treating customers fairly and it must change if we are to see a fully-functioning mortgage market any time soon.”