The mortgage industry has changed considerably in the past decade, largely for the best.
Whether it’s doubling down on supporting customers (prompted by regulation but driven willingly by brokers and lenders), embracing technology (a long way still to go but progress is good) or offering more inclusive lending criteria, there’s much to be proud of.
Similarly, our approach to mental health and neurodiversity — in the industry and in society as a whole — has come on in leaps and bounds. From the subject being utterly taboo in the workplace, to many firms making an effort to acknowledge, and even celebrate, difference, we’ve moved on for the better.
A problem shared really is a problem halved
I should know. When I started in financial services in 2012, I suffered from crippling anxiety. Telling a colleague about it, even some of my best friends, was unthinkable. Now I’m penning an article about it!
Of course, mental health and neurodiversity are widespread in every industry (one in four Brits experiences a mental-health problem every year, according to Mind). But the mortgage industry can be particularly challenging. After all, brokers and lenders support real people in making critical financial (and life) decisions every day.
We also have to remain resilient in the face of uncontrollables (the impact of a certain US president’s trade policies on mortgage rates being a topical example). And, while thankfully rare, we’re also responsible for looking after people in financial difficulty (with about 1% of UK mortgages in long-term arrears).
Alleviating stress
Although mental-health challenges are often biological and not directly caused by one’s environment, these stresses can, of course, contribute to the challenge.
So what can we do to make everyone’s lives a little easier, be that colleagues, customers or broker/lender partners? Here are three suggestions….
Let’s continue to make reasonable adjustments for colleagues, customers and industry partners to help them give their best
First, experience has taught me to be open about mental health and neurodiversity where possible. Doing so fosters understanding of the challenges people face, and can take a weight off one’s shoulders — a problem shared really is a problem halved, in my experience. And of course that involves listening as much as it does sharing (even for those with mental-health challenges as everyone experiences them differently).
Second, it’s a massive help when employers and industry players are overt about accepting, and celebrating, difference; not a once-a-year token gesture, but a sincere, considered kind of acceptance. It’s about an unambiguous tone from the top: ‘In this industry we celebrate difference, so don’t feel you need to hide it!’
Third, let’s continue to make reasonable adjustments for colleagues, customers and industry partners to help them give their best. Whether it’s making subtle changes to the recruitment process or indeed to the mortgage application process, let’s stop doing things because ‘that’s the way they’ve always been done’.
The mortgage industry can be particularly challenging. We support real people in making critical financial (and life) decisions every day
I’m a bit of a nerd, whether it’s mortgages or anything else, so naturally I’m interested in what the numbers tell us about mortgages and mental health:
- Two-thirds of people who fell behind on payments during the cost-of-living crisis suffered with their mental health, according to the FCA’s Financial Lives survey, and a third suffered relationship problems. The same report noted that “some customers praised mortgage lenders for helping them to lower their payments” as the cost of living soared.
- Mental-health problems are not equally distributed. For example, women account for 51% of the population but 55% of mental-health sufferers. And people who identify as LGBTQIA+ are between two and three times more likely than heterosexual people to report having a mental-health problem. Similarly, mortgages are not equally distributed among different demographics for a raft of reasons.
I suffered from crippling anxiety. Telling a colleague about it, even some of my best friends, was unthinkable
- Two-thirds of adults with a mental-health issue are not getting treatment. And only 6% of people in England are in contact with a mental-health specialist. Meanwhile, brokers and lenders are rightly under pressure to effectively identify and support customers with vulnerability, but this is far from easy — often customers are understandably reluctant to discuss a vulnerability, or may not identify it in themselves.
I fervently believe we’ve made progress as an industry and as a society, but there’s still much to do.
Let’s avoid complacency and continue to chip away together.
Alex Beighton is head of mortgage pricing and analytics at Nottingham Building Society
This article featured in the April 2025 edition of Mortgage Strategy.
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