Buying a mortgage without advice

Financial Conduct Authority

Summary

Research to help the mortgage industry consider how best to inform customers about the differences between buying a mortgage execution-only and with advice.

We conducted  30 depth interviews and 4 focus groups with recent mortgage applicants to understand people’s experiences of applying for a mortgage on an execution-only basis.

Detail

Our research with recent mortgage applicants explored how appealing and how clear they found several existing execution-only disclosure documents. The research found execution-only customers generally understood that they were selecting their mortgage without receiving advice. However, it also revealed that customers who went down either application route – execution-only or advised – struggled to understand the disclosure documents that were tested. This meant they were not always aware of the consequences of a decision to make an execution-only application, including what protections they would miss out on or what rights they would retain by choosing not to receive regulated advice.