NHS workers can save £695 on the cost of mortgage advice through an offer open to all staff, whether they are a cleaner, nurse, paramedic or doctor. Yellow Brick Mortgages has provided fee-free mortgage advice to NHS employees since the brokerage was founded in 2018, and the company says it has no plans to start charging them.
The firm's normal £695 fee becomes payable when a full mortgage application is submitted, but the charge is waived for NHS staff. The company said the offer was its way of giving something back to people working in the health service.
Offer open to all roles
The saving is not restricted to doctors or other highly paid medical professionals. Founders Stephen Perkins and Greg Marcham decided from the outset that a person's role within the NHS should make no difference.
Stephen Perkins, managing director at Norwich-based Yellow Brick Mortgages, said: "Whether they're a cleaner or a doctor makes no difference to us. If they work for the NHS, they receive exactly the same five-star service as any other client, but we waive our £695 mortgage advice fee."
How the offer works
There is no separate application process for the offer. NHS workers can contact Yellow Brick Mortgages in the usual way, and their eligibility is established as part of the normal mortgage advice process.
Only one person on a joint mortgage needs to qualify for the fee to be waived. The offer also extends to temporary, bank and agency NHS staff, as well as people such as dentists who combine NHS and private work. Retired NHS employees can also qualify if they receive an NHS pension.
Building awareness over time
The firm has gradually developed relationships with NHS trusts and appeared on NHS discount platforms, but Greg said building awareness of the offer had taken years. Rather than simply signing one national agreement, Yellow Brick Mortgages has had to develop relationships with individual trusts and NHS employees, initially helping nurses, ambulance workers and other staff before recommendations spread between colleagues.
Yellow Brick Mortgages also has dedicated NHS mortgage information on its website, covering issues including shift allowances, overtime and the different mortgage options that may be available to health-service workers. Stephen said the policy was established before Yellow Brick had even begun trading and was not created as a temporary marketing promotion.
He said: "We both have family members that wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the NHS. Some brokerages introduced temporary fee-free advice for NHS workers during Covid, but ours had already been in place since we launched and we have always intended it to be permanent."
Flexible appointments for shift workers
He believes the demands placed on NHS employees also make flexibility particularly important when arranging a mortgage. Yellow Brick Mortgages offers appointments around NHS shift patterns, including early mornings, evenings and weekends, by telephone or video call.
Stephen said the brokerage has previously held appointments with NHS employees at five in the morning and 11 at night to fit around their shifts. He recalled helping so many workers at one ambulance station near Norwich that Yellow Brick Mortgages became widely recommended between colleagues whenever someone mentioned they were looking to buy a home or needed mortgage advice.
He said: "We started helping a few people there, they recommended us to colleagues and it grew from there. Eventually, if someone mentioned they were buying a home or needed a mortgage, there would be several people telling them to speak to Yellow Brick Mortgages."
That word-of-mouth growth reflects a wider philosophy behind Yellow Brick Mortgages. The offer is available to eligible NHS employees across the UK, with Yellow Brick Mortgages having grown from two advisers in Norwich in 2018 to more than 90 nationwide today.
Stephen said: "We believe if you look after your customers and give something back, the growth and profits look after themselves. This was something Greg and I agreed before we even opened the doors in 2018. It was never intended to be a temporary promotion and we have no intention of ever withdrawing it."
