01Move
DNA dimensions
Submitted-to-completed conversion, average loan size, protection attach rate, 5-year remortgage retention, lender panel diversity and review velocity on Google + VouchedFor + Trustpilot.
All playbooksServices
Mortgage broker playbook.
A CeMAP-qualified London mortgage broker covering residential, BTL, expat and high-net-worth lending. The win is moving from one-off transactional broking into a referral-driven book with protection cross-sell and remortgage automation.
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Overview
A London CeMAP broker writing 6–14 cases per month at an average £520k loan earns £2,000–£4,200 procuration + protection fees per case (£12k–£60k MRR). The single biggest economic lever is the 5-year remortgage calendar — every completed case that re-engages at week 156 lifts lifetime fees 60–110% with near-zero CAC. The second is protection cross-sell: a 70%+ attach rate adds £600–£2,400 per case in commission and indemnifies the broker against rate-cycle income drops. This playbook covers operationalising a London broker — FCA authorisation route, lender panel, source-of-business pods and case-tracker pipeline.
£420k–£1.1m
Avg loan size (London)
60–75%
Protection attach
+38% vs cohort
5-yr retention
What you'll need
Equipment list with real 2026 UK prices.
Sized for a 2–4 chair shop. Buy mid-range on chairs and clippers; cheap kit fails inside 12 months and walks away with your barbers.
01
Workstation + comms
Laptop + docking + dual 27" monitors
£1,600–£2,600
4K webcam + noise-cancelling headset
£260–£540
FCA-grade call recording (CloudCall / Dubber)
£18–£42 / user / month
Locked FCA-compliant file storage
£180–£420
02
Sourcing + CRM
Smartr365 / Twenty7Tec / Mortgage Brain
£90–£260 / user / month
Iress XPlan / The Exchange protection sourcing
£60–£180 / user / month
Credit reports (Equifax + Experian)
£8–£18 / case
Open-banking affordability (MoneyHub / Plaid)
£0.40–£1.20 / case
DocuSign + secure client portal
£25–£80 / user / month
03
Authorisation + insurance
FCA Directly Authorised application + first-year levy
£1,500 + £700–£1,400
Appointed Representative network fees (alt. to DA)
£3,600–£14,400 / yr
Professional indemnity £1m–£5m
£900–£3,400 / yr
Cyber insurance + GDPR portal
£280–£640 / yr
Where to set up
Location is half the business.
Estate-agent + solicitor density
15+ partner-quality firms within 3 miles
60–80% of pipeline comes from estate-agent + solicitor referrals; proximity drives both pitch and lunch cadence.
Average house price catchment
£500k+ median (Zones 1–4 + commuter belt)
Procuration fees scale with loan size; under-£300k catchments need 3x volume to match revenue.
Branch / meeting room
Bookable private room
First-time-buyer + HNW reviews are still 70% in-person; pure-virtual brokers leak protection attach.
Specialism cluster
Tech (E1/EC2 — contractor + RSU lending) or W1 (HNW/non-dom)
Specialist lender knowledge commands 40–80% premium fees.
Area tier
Rent / month
Notes
Mayfair / Knightsbridge (W1, SW1, SW3)
£1,800–£4,800 serviced office
HNW + non-dom + international; private-bank referrals matter.
Inner London (EC1, E1, SE1, N1)
£900–£2,400 co-working with room
Best for first-time-buyer + tech-contractor specialism; close to agent partners.
Commuter belt (Bromley, Wimbledon, Richmond, Watford)
£600–£1,800 high-street unit
Family-mover + remortgage volume; lower fee per case but high retention.
Licences & registrations
Get the paperwork done before you sign a lease.
UK figures for 2026. Lead times assume you submit complete applications — councils will pause the clock if you miss documents.
Requirement
Who issues
Cost
Lead time
ReqCeMAP 1, 2 & 3 qualification (LIBF)
London Institute of Banking & Finance
£840–£1,200 total
3–9 months
ReqFCA Directly Authorised application
FCA
£1,500 + annual £700–£1,400
12–24 weeks
OptAppointed Representative network (alternative to DA)
Stonebridge / Openwork / Sesame / Quilter
£3,600–£14,400 / yr
4–8 weeks
ReqProfessional indemnity £1m–£5m
PolicyBee / Hiscox
£900–£3,400 / yr
1 week
ReqICO data-protection registration
ICO
£40–£60 / yr
1 day
ReqContinued Professional Development (CPD 35 hrs / yr)
LIBF / SimplyBiz
£140–£420 / yr
Rolling
Build-out timeline
From decision to open in 12 weeks.
01
Weeks 1–12 · Qualify + authorise
1–12- Complete CeMAP 1, 2 & 3 (if not already qualified)
- Choose DA vs AR route + submit application
- Secure PII + ICO + bank account + Ltd if relevant
- Set up Smartr365 / Twenty7Tec + Iress + DocuSign
02
Weeks 13–18 · Pods + offer
13–18- Sign 6 estate-agent + 3 solicitor + 2 accountant referral pods
- Build 5-year remortgage calendar template + protection-review cadence
- Stand up Google Business Profile + VouchedFor + Trustpilot pages
- Launch first-time-buyer + BTL + protection landing pages
03
Weeks 19–28 · First 10 completions
19–28- Target 10 completions (£20k–£42k procuration + protection)
- Achieve 60%+ protection attach by case 8
- Document FCA file-review evidence pack per case
- First 5 Trustpilot + VouchedFor reviews live
04
Months 7–12 · Scale + retention
29–52- Hire CeMAP-qualified admin + paraplanner (FT or fractional)
- Grow to 8–12 completions / month (£18k–£50k revenue)
- Launch remortgage book with 12-month look-ahead automation
- Quarterly FCA compliance + file-review audit
Budget
Realistic startup and monthly cost ranges.
One-off · Startup
Setting up the shop
Workstation + dual monitors + call recording
£2,000 → £3,400
CeMAP qualification + Ltd setup
£900 → £1,400
FCA DA application + first-year levy (or AR fees)
£2,200 → £14,400
Smartr365 / Twenty7Tec + Iress + DocuSign setup
£300 → £800
PII + ICO + cyber (yr 1)
£1,220 → £4,100
Branding + site + landing-page suite
£900 → £3,400
Marketing launch (Google + LinkedIn + estate-agent gifts)
£800 → £2,800
Typical total
£8,320 – £30,300
Recurring · Monthly
Keeping the lights on
CRM + sourcing + protection sourcing
£150 → £440
Credit + open-banking checks (per case)
£40 → £180
Insurance (amortised)
£100 → £340
FCA fees / AR network split (amortised)
£60 → £1,200
Google Ads + LinkedIn + agent-pod events
£400 → £1,800
Admin / paraplanner (per active month)
£0 → £3,600
Typical total
£750 – £7,560
Numbers that compound
How a mortgage broker actually looks on a chart.
Illustrative planning ranges, not measured customer data. Toggle the views to see ramp, mix and weekly load.
12-month revenue ramp
Low vs high scenario (£ monthly)
High Low
Illustrative example for planning, not measured customer data.
First 90 days
Dates that actually matter after opening.
01Day 0
Confirm CeMAP qualified + choose DA vs AR route
02Day 14
PII + ICO live; FCA application submitted (or AR signed)
03Day 60
Smartr365 + Iress + DocuSign live; first 5 partner pods signed
04Day 90
First completion + protection attach; first VouchedFor review
05Day 150
5+ completions/month; remortgage calendar populated
06Day 220
8–10 completions/month; first paraplanner active
What's inside
DNA, route, automations, integrations, benchmarks, advisors — tuned for a mortgage broker.
02Move
Suggested route
Build an estate-agent + solicitor + accountant referral pod, lock the 5-year remortgage calendar at completion, attach protection on 70%+ of cases, then layer BTL + expat specialisms.
03Move
Automations
DIP-to-application checklist, document-request portal, weekly case-tracker for clients, remortgage trigger at 26 weeks pre-expiry, protection-review nudge at 12 months.
04Move
Integrations
Smartr365 / Twenty7Tec / Mortgage Brain, Iress, Equifax / Experian, OneFile + DocuSign, MoneyHub, Google Business Profile, VouchedFor and Xero.
05Move
Benchmarks
Submitted-to-completed conversion, protection attach and average loan size vs UK CeMAP brokers in the same case-size band, refreshed monthly.
06Move
Advisors
Encore advisors who have built FCA-directly-authorised broker firms in London, plus NAVIZIX AI for weekly pipeline-vs-target projection.
Stack
Modules used in this playbook.
01DNA Engine02Route Map03Launch Twin04Automation05Verified06Encore
Related playbooks
Owners of a mortgage broker often run — or cross-sell with — these adjacent operations.
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