No such thing as a free lunch!

Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs) are rarely independent and are not usually financial advisers. They simply sell financial products - they are mortgage sellers.   If you have not paid them a fee then they are getting paid commission by the lending company (how else will they feed their family!) which may/will sway their decision.

A considerable amount of commission is made from your mortgage by the independent financial adviser and the estate agent and of course the lender over the next 20 years (or for however long your mortgage is).  Remember, it's most important to get the right house and you can usually change mortgages at a later date (although sometimes there is a financial penalty).  In our opinion it is much harder to trade in the wrong house than the wrong mortgage.

We recommend that you research the products available for yourself.  The internet is a good place to do this.  There are various magazines and books on the mortgage market and newspapers regularly produce articles on mortgages.  Take your time - it's a free market, you can go to whoever you want for a mortgage.