Personal Finance - UK

I had some dealings with Countrywide - my Dad's financial advisor put us onto them and they came up with some weird tax avoidance scheme that would have involved giving them a percentage of his house or some such dodgy nonsense. We showed it to the lawyer who was redoing Dad's will (who was a property lawyer) and he said it'd never work. Then again the lawyer was a bit rubbish and hadn't done what was asked of him decades earlier which caused all sorts of hassle later on.

My rule of thumb is that, if you feel you are being pressured into something then walk away. There's a reason they want you sign up.so.quixkly without shopping around and it isn't to your benefit (best case scenario they want to guarantee their bonus). I had a British Gas guy come to give a quote on a new boiler and he tried the old "here is a deal but it expires when I leave". I said "you were doing so well up until that point".

Wait for others to chip in, but maybe that's what they're all like? They will do what they can to make the process go as smoothly as possible and reduce the risk of the deal falling through - otherwise they won't get their fee. I've only had one experience, and he didn't feel that pushy, but I perhaps regret agreeing to the mortgage insurance thing since I'm still alive, and I think they steered me towards getting the survey that only values the house rather than the more expensive one that highlights any issues with the house (which would have prevented a couple of surprises). When the valuation came in below the agreed price, he quickly suggested meeting halfway, which in a way saved me quite a big chunk of money, but maybe that's a standard thing the agent would have advised me of anyway.

They're a commission based sales person. They want you to take out the nearest mortgage you can with them as quickly as possible so they make the most money they can in the shortest time. They probably also get a bigger commission from arranging lending from an institution that you are not already a customer of.

I'm ignorant of UK specifics, but I assume there's a code of conduct or ombudsmen that regulates the mortgage broker industry. If so, they're possibly violating a requirement to operate in your best interests (not their own).

Having delt with a few brokers in my small commonwealth nation, I was never quite sure we were getting the best advice. Going to our bank (s) directly was no additional effort, so the value of a broker was marginal at best.

Nowadays, unfortunately, the whole buying and selling process seems to get massively rushed (and changes to stamp duty won't be helping the panic).

A good mortgage broker, particularly if you're first time buying, saves a lot of work/stress while you're juggling other things.
They (should) know what can and cannot be done, which can save you a lot of time during the search.
If you'd like to try an alternative, JustMortgages have been good in the past (not official advice or anything)
Although the guy I used to use there now has his own independent firm!.

I had a small, independent, mortgage broker when I bought last year and they were so helpful. Didn't rush us at all, got us a good deal, helped us navigate all the weird paperwork. We had an unusual situation too, self employed, so it was really helpful.

I think ones that work for these big firms have high pressure targets and are more likely to rush and close a deal.

Check reviews and maybe find someone local?