New research conducted by Alliance & Leicester mortgages has revealed that over three quarters of brokers feel that their role is becoming more advisory and will continue to become so over the next six months.

Almost half of the brokers believe they provide clients with more insight and thought than they did six months ago, mainly due to lower confidence in the housing market and the economy.

In the past six months, on average, brokers have dedicated well over a quarter more of their time offering advice and guidance to potential borrowers. Of these, almost half of brokers find that the added time involved in giving more advice isn’t affecting their business financially.

Furthermore, of the 24% of brokers who feel the added time pressure has resulted in less immediate business, more than two thirds believe this will ultimately secure longer relations with their clients and therefore lead to a more robust and prolonged income stream in the long term.

Raj Uppal, director of mortgages at Alliance & Leicester, said: Borrowers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of making the right mortgage choice and that they can take advantage of brokers’ wealth of knowledge to ensure this.

Instead of simply using a broker to source products, borrowers are now making the most of their advisory services to learn about affordability and extend their product understanding.