a small panel of lenders. Many tied brokers are linked to estate agents and will refer the agency’s customers to one of a handful of lenders in exchange for a commission. Mortgage specialists in banks and building societies can also be considered to be ‘tied’ brokers, insofar as they may only offer products sold by that lender. Whole of market The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) requires that a mortgage broker describes its range accurately to consumers, and stipulates that one of the following disclosures be used to describe the service offered (as appropriate): "We are not limited in the range of mortgages we will consider for you." "We offer a comprehensive range of mortgages from across the market, but not deals that you can only obtain by going direct to a lender." "We only offer mortgages from [number] lender(s). We can provide you with a list of these." "We only offer mortgages from [name of lender(s)]." "We only offer some, but not all, of the mortgages from [number] lender(s). We can provide you with a list of these." "We only offer some, but not all, of the mortgages from [name of lender(s)]." "We only sell bridging finance products from [name of lender(s)]. We do not offer products from across the mortgage market." How mortgage brokers make money Some mortgage brokers charge a fee to their customers. The fees charged vary, but many consumer groups and advisory services suggest that the fees are justified if the broker can expedite the application process and search a wide range of mortgages in order to find a better deal. Some brokers employ a sliding fee scale in order to account for the fact that some applications (e.g. those from customers with historic credit impairments) are more difficult to place – and therefore require more work – than others (e.g. ‘like-for-like’ remortgages). The other means of income for mortgage brokers is commission, which they receive from the lenders whom they introduce to borrowers. Some mortgage brokers make money from a mixture of both fees and commission. This covers the cost of the work they do for both the consumer (to find a suitable product) and the lender (in pre-qualifying the customer and administering the application). Mortgage regulation Owner-occupier mortgage products, and by extension brokers of these products, are regulated by the FCA. A regulated mortgage contract is defined in the Mortgages and Home Finance: Code