Making Sure You Have Enough Lender Choice

The Short Version

Drake is a whole-of-market broker, so we place the great majority of cases directly with lenders we work with every day.

No single broker’s lender access, though, reaches every lender in the market.

When a case would benefit from more choice than our own access offers, we widen the search through a trusted specialist master broker, so you still get access to the right lender and the right terms. We would always rather tell you honestly that a case needs a wider search than push you towards a product that does not truly fit.

What Whole of Market Actually Means

Being whole-of-market means we look across the wider lending market rather than being tied to one lender or a narrow range.

In practice, we hold direct relationships with a broad range of mainstream and specialist lenders and place most cases with them ourselves. What it does not mean, for any broker, is that a single broker’s access literally includes every lender. Some lenders only lend through master brokers or specialist packagers, and some niche cases are served by a small handful of lenders that a general broker may not reach.

Being open about that is part of giving good advice.

How We Decide Whether We Have Enough Choice

For every case, we look at more than simply whether it can be placed. We ask whether it can be placed on the best available terms, with enough competing options to be confident of the outcome.

In practice we consider:

• Whether the case fits the criteria of lenders we access directly, and how many of them would realistically consider it.
• Whether there is genuine competition on rate, loan-to-value and fees, or only one possible lender.
• Whether the property or the borrower’s circumstances are specialist enough that only a few niche lenders apply.
• Whether widening the search would materially improve the rate, the amount available or the likelihood of a firm offer.

If a case can only go to one lender on our own arrangements, or to none, that is our signal that you would be better served by a wider search.

Signs a Case Needs a Wider Search

A smaller number of cases sit beyond what any single broker can reach well.

We look wider when, for example:

• A property with a difficult structure, title or occupancy arrangement that only a small number of lenders will consider.
• Income or circumstances complex enough that genuine competition narrows to a handful of specialist lenders.
• Cases where the most suitable product sits with a lender that lends only through master brokers.
• Any case where widening the search would clearly improve the rate, the amount available or the likelihood of a firm offer.

Spotting this early, rather than forcing a case into a product that does not truly fit, is a core part of how we advise.

What a Master Broker Is

A master broker is, in effect, a broker’s broker.

It is a specialist firm whose whole role is to give brokers like Drake access to lenders and products that sit beyond any single broker’s direct access, together with deep expertise in complex and niche cases. Working with a trusted master broker extends our reach and lets us cast the net far wider than our own lender list, so that even unusual cases have a clear route to the right lender.

How This Helps You

Widening the search through a master broker means:

• More lenders considering your case, and a better chance of the right terms.
• Specialist expertise on complex properties and unusual circumstances.
• A realistic route forward for cases that one broker could not place well.
• A specialist master broker who takes your case on directly and handles it through to completion.

The cost is refreshingly simple. Once we introduce you, the master broker takes the case on and sees it through. There is only one fee to pay, the master broker’s own fee, and nothing to Drake for the introduction. We will always be clear about that fee before you decide to go ahead.