Mortgage leads: what buying them really costs

Buying mortgage leads works. That is why the market exists. The problem is month thirteen, when you have spent a year of margin and own nothing you did not own before.

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Mortgage leads from a broker’s own client book: Theo lead management on a MacBook

Quick answer

Buying mortgage leads means paying for contact details of people who showed some interest in a mortgage, usually generated through paid advertising or comparison forms. Mortgage leads are sold shared, to several brokers at once, or exclusive, at a higher price.

The figure that matters is not the price per lead but the cost per completed case, which depends on contact rate, conversion rate and how many competitors received the same enquiry.

Search demand500 a month

Typical bid£10 a click

True measureCost per case

Models

2

Shared or exclusive

Questions to ask

4

Before renewing

Owned alternative

Compounds

Over time

Measure over

3 months

At least

Ask the provider

How many brokers?Ask for the number, not the policy.
How old?Minutes matter.
Contact rate?The share who actually answer.
Unconverted?Do they go back in the pool?

Instead of buying mortgage leads: the Opportunities screen showing calls from a broker’s own connected clients — Example screen from a live adviser ecosystem, client details hidden.

Leads from inside your own book

Clients who connected to you, surfaced when their position changes. No purchase, no sharing, no race to call first.

When buying is right

Need cases nowAn owned audience takes a year or more.
Testing a segmentFaster than building content.
Strong conversionThen the maths says keep going.

Work out your real cost

Then compare it with your own book.

Shared against exclusive mortgage leads

Both are legitimate. They fail in different ways.
	Shared leads	Exclusive leads
Price	Lower per lead	Much higher per lead
Who else has it	Often three to six brokers	In principle nobody; check the definition
What decides it	Speed of first contact	Quality of advice
Where it goes wrong	Conversion falls, price does not	You carry every lead that never converts
Cost over time	Flat or rising	Flat or rising, from a higher base

Owning the audience instead

Not a better lead source. A different asset, kept after the case completes.

ConnectClients you already advised accept most readily.
HoldThe years between transactions compound.
SurfaceWhen their position changes, with the reason.
ResultNo purchase, no sharing, no race to call first.

The full cost comparison between bought and owned pipelines.

See mortgage lead generation

What you are actually buying with mortgage leads

The headline price is the least useful number in the deal. A cheap lead that reaches you fourth, hours after three other brokers have called, can cost far more per completed case than one at three times the price that reaches you alone. The size of the market these leads are sold into is published by UK Finance.

Work in cost per case, not cost per lead. Take a month’s spend, divide by the cases that completed from it, and compare that with what the cases earned. None of this makes buying mortgage leads wrong. It makes it a channel with a floor you cannot lower, because the price is set by everyone else bidding for the same enquiry.

Shared and exclusive mortgage leads

Shared leads go to several brokers within minutes, so speed of first contact decides the outcome more than advice quality. Exclusive leads remove the race, but you carry the full cost of every lead that was never going to convert. Neither improves with scale: spending more buys more leads at the same unit economics.

The owned alternative

A completed client is the cheapest connection you will ever make and the one most likely to accept. Connect them to their own mortgage app, hold the relationship between transactions, and let opportunities surface when their position changes. The full cost comparison is on mortgage lead generation, and the years in between on mortgage client retention.

When buying mortgage leads is the right call

When you need cases this quarter. An owned audience takes twelve to twenty-four months to produce real volume. When you are testing a new segment, three months of bought leads tells you more, faster. When your conversion is genuinely strong, the channel works and the maths says keep going. The argument is not that you should stop; it is that a channel with a rising floor and no lasting value should not be the only thing holding your business up.

Common questions

How much do mortgage leads cost in the UK?

It varies widely by provider, by whether the lead is shared or exclusive, and by segment. The more useful figure is cost per completed case: total spend divided by cases that completed. That is usually several times the headline lead price.

Are shared mortgage leads worth buying?

They can be, particularly if your contact speed and process are strong. The structural issue is that the same enquiry goes to several brokers at once, so you pay full price for a fraction of the conversion chance, and the price does not fall.

Are exclusive mortgage leads better value?

Sometimes, but not automatically. You remove the race to call first, which usually lifts conversion, but you carry the whole cost of every lead that was never going to convert. Measure it rather than assume it.

Why are mortgage leads so expensive?

Because transactional mortgage search terms are among the most contested in UK financial services, and lead providers buy that traffic before reselling it. You pay for the advertising auction plus the provider’s margin, at the most expensive point in the customer journey.

What is the alternative to buying mortgage leads?

Building a connected audience of homeowners earlier in their journey and generating opportunities from inside it. It is slower to start and cheaper over time, because a relationship you already have produces repeat opportunities at no extra cost.

How do I calculate my true cost per acquisition?

Take everything spent on acquiring leads in a period, including staff time spent working them, and divide by the number of cases that completed from that period. Compare it with average case revenue, over at least three months.

Next in this cluster

Mortgage lead generationAn owned pipeline instead of bought enquiries.

Mortgage client retentionWhy clients leave at fix end, and how to stop it.

The broker ecosystemWhat it is, how clients connect, and the signals it watches.

Written by Jason Foord, CeMAP-qualified mortgage adviser and founder of Theo. Updated 22 October 2026.

Published by Theo App Ltd. Theo is software for regulated mortgage professionals. Theo App Ltd is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, does not give mortgage advice and does not recommend products to consumers. Opportunity figures shown in Theo are indicative, depend on eligibility, affordability and lender criteria, and must be checked with the client before advice is given. Advisers remain responsible for the advice they give and for their own regulatory obligations.