Greetings all from Santander!

You could always bring back Ricky Okey - things started to go wrong after he left, and accelerated as the years went by.

You had the top man who knew how to bring in large volume business, and really understood the needs of the broking community.....and you let him go. You were getting 75-80% of my overall volume at that point.

His leaving and the arrogance of the new Spanish overseers soon spoiled what he had built up.

That and allowing your most experienced underwriters to be poached.....leaving us with the aforementioned pre-pubescent illiterates.

We wish you luck AJS,

As the others have mainly said we used to submit a LOT of business to Abbey National/Santander over nearly 40 years until you ruined it by declining everyone but King Charles as applicants.

The "existing commitments doesn't exactly match what we have on our outdated credit report, can you amend your entries rather than us doing our job and taking a view and discussing what the issues are" comments also don't help matters on cases. 

If you manage to get Santander back to where it was pre-Covid we are all ears.

Gary

Hi, thought I'd give you guys ago, as previously stated Completed between 25-30 mortgages a month with you until 2012. Just had an AIP declined for Unsatisfactory Application Data. Now I initially thought that was because on completing the AIP I was not asked about the residential mortgage details and values. When ringing your BDM (who is now a telephone one), I believe this is because I did not wish to meet the new area BDM (I'm too busy), she looked at the case and said this was due to adverse and to look at Checkmyfile. I had Experian, nothing adverse at all, I am arranging a resi through Skipton as we speak sailing through!! She assured me there was adverse although the decline did not exactly state this! Got the report, missed one payment on a mail order in April last year, absolutely nothing else, yet she has 2 BTL mortgages and this is a remo, with a residential and good credit!! I  tried to call the BDM this am 3x, got recorded message 'Please call back between 9.30 and 5pm this was at 9.35, 9.45 and 9.50. I have given up just done a AIP with Virgin, slightly higher rate but sailed through. I am not expecting you to investigate but these are the reasons, you get no business hardly from me, I personally arranged 30mil+ last year  Santander received about £500000.00 of that        

A noble cause for you to try AJ, but alas the rot has well and truly set in; sounds like we are past the gangrene and you have been amputated!!

I concur with all the comments on here and again I have been in this industry for 43 years. After the fantastic days of the best lender ever C&G, my go to lender then became Abbey/Santander over £10m a year I gave to Santander, this was good for many years, OK things tightened up in the whole industry in 2008.

So now what are we left with-: The stupid questions on the App even more painful questions from underwriters. The absolute no understanding of picking the phone up rather than the stupid 4 hr response time when they could have phoned.  I am lucky enough to have a first class BDM I’ve had for 20 years; a gap in that time of about 4 years in the recession. Even he has given up trying to fight the underwriters, who, in my opinion are not underwriters, they have no power to underwrite whatsoever; unlike the Building Societies, they tick the box to see if it meets with a list of criteria. So like Mortgages 1555 I have gradually done less and less with Santander, over £24m last year about 1m to Santander. USP’s left =1 OK at a bit of Int Only. I, like a lot of Brokers on here have lots of Self Employed. You’ve ruined that one (Latest year and 5 times income 85%). Gone! We have lenders out there that still like Self Employed IE Coventry; latest year Salary and nett profit. We have some salary and net profit before tax! Why oh why for employees do you deduct for pensions hardly anybody else does. The list of Santandon’t goes on!! Your underwriters don’t understand IR35.

The last straw over a year ago I had a client on £45kpm £540pa FTB 1,200,000 75% so £900k no debts £600k in the bank £200K Car owned you get the picture. Been paid by same employer 3 years for 2 years IR35 so paid into his Business account then transferred to his personal account. Dead easy; was talking to my BDM he said yes we will do it but will treat him as Self Employed LTD. No probs I thought!!! I got Accountants Reference, Salary £540k No Divs (under 2 x income) therefore a few claims to mitigate a bit of his £19k tax per month so manages to make the company loose approx £6k to get a bit of tax back. Overall profit still £534K in reality ---- Yes you guessed it; oh dear the company has made a loss; me, WHAT!! My BDM WHAT!!! Accountant explains how IR 35 works to underwriters- they don’t understand and say company made a loss- I give up send it to Nationwide, all they wanted was the 3 Payslips and Bank Stats issued Offer in a week!! So in conclusion as other brokers have said on here, why on earth would we use Santander, you have NO USPs maybe a bit on Int Only that’s it. I don’t see how you can ever fix this you are well and truly broken. Such a shame you were once really good. Santander have such a nonchalant attitude to "OUR" clients and brokers alike. Good luck with your trying to change it!!

Sorry to pile in AJS (and this isn't limited to Santander only) but why do Santander send out a bulletin saying the following:

On Friday 17 January, we’re making changes in our new business and product transfer ranges. This includes residential fixed rate increases of up to 0.34% and reductions of up to 0.29%.

So, do I need to push my clients in case the rate I've recommended is going up.....or is the rate going down. Absolute no help at all - why not just tell us exactly what the changes are!

Especially if the aim is to bring brokers back

Many other lenders are able to communicate all changes clearly

Hi AJS

I received a message from my BDM last week telling me that 2025 was going to be a 'Growth Year' for Santander mortgage lending, telling me that rates would be more competitive, service sharper..etc.

It sounds great, but from past experience the elephant in the room is the question of what happens in 2026 or 2027 when you decide that these years are not going to be 'Growth Years'?
Do you revert to the current state again? Are we then again irrelevant to you and easily disposable? 

This is where the issue of 'trust' comes in.  This is where I struggle to believe and start to look at past behaviour as being indicative of future issues.

I just can't bring myself to believe that an organisation who has shown by actions and words that we weren't important to you......is suddenly interested again. It's almost dystopian when looked at.

I would love for things to go back to a semblance of how they were. However I can't allow myself to buy in. If others want to try and experiment then good luck to them. I'll be the last man through the door if it works. It's just that after 150 slaps in the face, there's no reason to believe that the next case won't be the 151st.

We've been screaming for years that the relationships are being destroyed and that you are abandoning us and forcing us to go with other lenders. Now......after all this time, you want us back on your terms....... on your timeline.

That isn't how business relationships work

It's how abusive relationships work.

But seriously...I hope you succeed.

SM

OK, well I am prepared to see just what Santander can do!

I had a case that was up for remortgage, good clients, decent incomes (combined just over £80k), negligible unsecured debt, no adverse, £208k loan at 53% ltv...a genuine vanilla case.

Other than the online application process being as user friendly as a bidet full of Piranha, everything has gone through and case accepted.

Curious as to why when gross income exceeds £60,000 you don't take child benefit into consideration, yet in documents required for underwriting you still require the latest full child benefit statement??? There must be some logic there, but I will be damned if I can see it!

Let's see how long this takes to get to Offer and if it manages to avoid the underwriters playground?

Have to say that I tend to find Santander are either really good or really poor with not much in between

Poor - last year - doing a rate change due to lower rate being available on a BTL purchase and then being told the loan amount would have to drop as reassessed and no longer affordable under new calcs (most other lenders go thanks here's the new offer at the lower rate) or could have original amount at higher rate

Good - this week - submitted a remo with capital raise to buy out HTB on Tuesday at 3.30pm.  Added all docs straight away.  Case reviewed, agreed by underwriter, desktop val'd and offered by 1pm Wednesday.  Now recovering from back injury after falling off chair!

Other saving grace my BDM Jenny is pretty good at sorting stuff out and very helpful on criteria and awkward case stuff

A quick update on the case that I submitted to Santander yesterday morning at 11.30, other than the rather bizarre request for the Child Benefit statement (that they wouldn't consider anyway as the combined incomes were well in excess of the Santander £60k threshold), the case went through very smoothly and was offered at 16.00 this afternoon.

I must admit to being a shade perplexed about the AVM Santander used.

Clients required £208,702 based around a fairly accurate (the next door identical property had just been sold for £402,000) yet the AVM came in at £347,837...just one pound more than was needed to achieve the 60% ltv...call me a cynic, BUT...

Anyway, well done with that one Santander, I will give you a go again when your product looks right for the client.