Sector Brief 2026

Mortgage Lead Generation Benchmarks 2026

Mortgage broker acquisition in 2026 is defined by rate sensitivity, rising high-intent Google CPC, and structural outperformance by specialist niches over generalist brokerage.

Headline benchmarks

£62

CPL median

Google

£38

CPL median

Meta

4.8%

Landing-page conversion

All

26%

SQL-to-appointment

All

Benchmarks

Median mortgage broker CPL sits at £62 on Google (transactional) and £38 on Meta (awareness). Landing-page conversion median is 4.8 percent; SQL-to-appointment median is 26 percent.

Performance characteristics

Demand is highly rate-sensitive and exhibits clear January and September peaks. First-time buyer and remortgage audiences respond differently to creative tone, with FTB audiences favouring reassurance and remortgage audiences favouring rate certainty.

Risk factors

  • CPC inflation in high-intent remortgage keywords (8 to 12 percent year-on-year).
  • Exposure to single-lender product flows as commission models evolve.
  • Rate-cycle volatility translating into demand volatility.

Growth trends

Specialist niches (self-employed, contractor, adverse credit, expat mortgage) outperform generalist brokerage on both CPL and close rate in the 2026 dataset. Firms focusing on one to three specialist niches achieve CPL 18 to 28 percent below generalist peers.

Key points

  • Specialist niches outperform generalist brokerage on CPL and close rate.
  • Google CPC inflation 8-12% YoY in high-intent remortgage keywords.
  • First-time buyer and remortgage audiences require distinct creative tone.
  • January and September are peak demand months.
Annual reference

This sector brief draws on the 2026 annual dataset. For full methodology and cross-sector comparisons, see the annual edition.

Read the 2026 annual report