Darlington Intermediaries: mortgages arranged through a broker

Darlington Intermediaries is the name Darlington Building Society uses for mortgage business that arrives through brokers. It is not a separate lender, not a separate company and not something you can apply to yourself: the firm behind it is Darlington Building Society, and the register entry for that firm lists Darlington Intermediaries as one of its current trading names¹.

That single fact answers most of what people search for. If you want a mortgage from this lender, you go through a mortgage broker rather than filling in a form on the society's website. If you already have a mortgage with it, your account is administered by Darlington Building Society, and your savings, if you have any, sit with the society too.

Darlington Building Society is a building society: a customer-owned financial institution based in the UK, owned by its members rather than by shareholders¹. It offers mortgages and savings accounts, and it trades under the name Darlington Intermediaries for its mortgage intermediary business².

What Darlington Intermediaries lends for

Darlington Intermediaries is the name the society uses for its mortgage intermediary business, and the society's recorded permissions are narrow and specific: entering into a regulated mortgage contract as lender, and accepting deposits¹. In plain terms, it lends on mortgages and takes savings. It is not recorded as offering current accounts, credit cards or personal loans.

Because the brand exists for broker business, the products are the ones a broker would place: residential mortgages for people buying a home, remortgages for people switching lender or changing their deal, and lending to existing borrowers who want to move, borrow more or change product. That range is the standard shape of a building society mortgage book. Chorley Building Society, for example, describes mortgages for first time buyers, home movers, buy to let and remortgaging, and sets out options for existing customers who want to switch product, borrow more, make a change to the mortgage or move home⁴. Cambridge Building Society describes remortgage lending for people looking for a better deal, to extend the mortgage term or to borrow more money⁵.

Building societies as a group also lend in areas high street banks often avoid. The Building Societies Association notes that building societies provide finance for self and custom build projects⁶, and Skipton Building Society has offered a no-deposit mortgage⁷. Whether Darlington Building Society lends in any of those niches is a question for the society or your broker, not something the register entry tells you.

What the register does not do is list rates, fees or criteria. Those change, and the society publishes them for brokers rather than for the public. Broker-facing systems, not consumer websites, are where this lender's mortgage criteria are published.

Who can apply for a Darlington Intermediaries mortgage

The practical answer is that anyone a broker is willing to place with the society can apply, and the broker decides whether the case fits. Lenders of this kind typically lend to employed and self-employed borrowers buying a home to live in, and to landlords buying to let, subject to the society's own criteria.

Two groups are worth separating out. The first is borrowers whose circumstances are unusual: self-employed income, a small deposit, a property that is hard to value, or a credit history that has taken a knock. Brokers exist partly to match those cases to lenders whose criteria fit, which is why a broker route can open doors that a direct application does not. The second is borrowers who would rather not use a broker at all. That is a legitimate choice, but it rules this brand out, because the business is set up to come through intermediaries.

There is no consumer-facing eligibility list to check. The society's own criteria, and any minimum deposit or property rules, sit with the broker. If you are applying jointly, or buying with someone else, the broker will assess the application as a whole rather than each person separately.

How to apply through a mortgage broker

The process is the same as any intermediated mortgage, with the lender chosen by the broker rather than by you.

1. Get an agreement in principle. This is an initial indication from a lender of how much it might lend. You either approach a mortgage lender directly or go via a mortgage broker⁷. Some brokers offer a decision in principle with no obligation to take a mortgage from them⁸.
2. Check what the broker charges. Online-only brokers often do not charge for the advice itself⁹. Some named brokers are explicitly fee-free: L&C is described as the UK's largest fee-free mortgage broker, meaning it does not charge for its mortgage advice service⁹, and HomeOwners Alliance customers receive Mortgage Advice Bureau advice free of charge¹⁰.
3. Understand the broker's status. A tied broker offers deals only from one lender, so its ability to scan the wider market is limited¹¹. A whole-of-market broker can look across lenders. Insurance brokers, for comparison, act as intermediaries between customers and providers¹², and mortgage brokers work the same way.
4. Complete the application. Even with an online broker, there will still be paperwork, and human mortgage brokers will always be used at some point in the process to make sure the application is correct and legally binding⁹.
5. Receive the offer and complete. The lender issues the mortgage offer, your solicitor handles the legal work, and the loan completes.

Managing your mortgage with Darlington Building Society after completion

Once the mortgage completes, the broker steps back and the society takes over the account. Payments, statements, questions about the balance and requests to change the mortgage all go to Darlington Building Society, because it is the lender named on the mortgage contract¹. Building societies commonly get in touch before a deal ends to set out the options: Cambridge Building Society contacts customers three months before, and Skipton Building Society a few months before².

The things borrowers most often want to do later are the standard ones: switch to a new product when a deal ends, borrow more, make a change to the mortgage, or move home and take the mortgage with them. Chorley Building Society sets out exactly that list for its existing customers, and notes that a full mortgage illustration is given before a decision is made⁴. Any lender has to give you the figures before you commit, so ask for them in writing.

If you are on an interest-only mortgage, the end of the term is the point that needs attention, because the capital still has to be repaid. Lenders contact borrowers as the mortgage comes to an end: Principality Building Society gets in touch by email or post setting out what is happening and the options, and Marsden Building Society contacts existing customers before the product ends¹. Chorley Building Society sets out the options for existing customers as switching product, borrowing more, making a change to the mortgage, or moving home³.

Where a borrower cannot keep up payments, help exists but is tightly defined. Support for Mortgage Interest is a loan rather than a grant, and it is available to homeowners getting Pension Credit or Universal Credit¹³, with the Department for Work and Pensions helping with the interest on up to £100,000 of the mortgage loan for Pension Credit claimants and those who began claiming a qualifying benefit before January 2009 while below State Pension age¹⁴. Free, impartial debt advice is available from charities including StepChange and National Debtline¹⁵.

Savings with Darlington Building Society

Savings are not sold through Darlington Intermediaries. The brand covers mortgage business; deposit-taking is done by the society itself, and the register records accepting deposits as one of the firm's permissions¹. So a savings account is opened with Darlington Building Society directly, not through a broker.

That matters for two reasons. First, it means the savings side of the society is a normal consumer relationship: you deal with the society, not an intermediary. Second, it means your savings and your mortgage sit with one firm rather than two, which affects how compensation limits apply if the firm ever failed. Building societies are customer-owned financial institutions based across the UK in local communities¹.

Building society savings are treated as savings for means-tested benefit purposes in the normal way: bank or building society savings should normally be included as savings¹⁶. If you are claiming benefits and hold savings, that is worth knowing before you open an account.

For the wider picture on deposit accounts, including how interest is taxed and how to compare them, see savings accounts and ISAs.

Is Darlington Intermediaries regulated?

Yes, through the firm behind it. Darlington Building Society is authorised, with status effective from 1 December 2001, and its permissions cover entering into a regulated mortgage contract as lender and accepting deposits¹. It also appears on the Bank of England's list of building societies incorporated in the UK².

The distinction that matters to a consumer is between the brand and the firm. A trading name is not separately authorised; the authorisation belongs to the firm, and the trading name is simply how the firm presents part of its business. That is why searching for Darlington Intermediaries on the register leads back to Darlington Building Society¹.

Regulation of this kind of lending is not optional. Mortgage brokers themselves are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority¹, and lenders need permission to enter into regulated mortgage contracts². If you are ever unsure whether a firm you are dealing with is authorised, the register is the check, and the FCA's Consumer Helpline can help on 0800 111 6768, including large print, Braille or audio formats of information³.

Complaints: going to Darlington, then the Financial Ombudsman

If something goes wrong, the route is the same as with any lender. Talk to your lender or broker first, because they need to have the chance to put things right¹⁷. If you are not satisfied with the final response, you can take the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which can determine whether the provider treated you fairly and reasonably¹⁸.

The ombudsman's powers are not limited to ordering a correction. It can tell a firm to put things right and may require compensation for distress or inconvenience¹⁹. In a mortgage context, complaints it handles include mortgage underfunding, where a repayment vehicle was never going to clear the loan¹⁷.

Two practical points. First, keep the complaint in writing and keep a copy; a template letter referring the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service if it is not resolved is a reasonable way to set out the position²¹. Second, if your complaint is about a broker rather than the lender, the ombudsman can still be involved, and where a claims company is involved and you are unhappy with its service or fees, that too can go to the ombudsman²².

How your money is protected

Deposits with Darlington Building Society are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which protects money up to £120,000 per eligible depositor for all banks, building societies and credit unions authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority¹. The scheme can only protect money held by UK branches of authorised banks and building societies¹.

Because Darlington Intermediaries is a trading name rather than a separate firm, savings held with the society count once against that limit, not twice. The same principle applies across brands that share an authorisation: money held under one firm's permission adds up to a single limit.

If a firm fails, the scheme's process involves the firm's administrators and the scheme itself working through claims¹. For most depositors the practical effect is that covered money is returned, but it is worth knowing the limit applies per person per firm, so larger balances spread across separate authorised firms are treated separately.

On the mortgage side, protection works differently. A mortgage is a debt, not a deposit, so the compensation scheme does not cover it. What protects a borrower is the conduct regime: the lender needs permission to enter into the contract¹, the broker is regulated², and disputes end at the Financial Ombudsman Service³. The government's mortgage charter sets out additional commitments firms have signed up to for borrowers in difficulty⁴.