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Sam covers personal finance topics, from the best savings rates to the reasons mortgage lenders say no. He enjoys crunching the numbers to help consumers get ahead.
Building societies have beaten high street banks for customer satisfaction, according to the latest Which? mortgage lender survey. But do they offer the cheapest deals?
We surveyed more than 6,500 members of the public in August and September to uncover the best mortgage lenders, according to real customers.
The two lenders that achieved the joint-highest customer scores (which represent customer satisfaction and the likelihood to recommend) are Nationwide Building Society and Principality Building Society.
But we don't leave it there. We analysed more than 75,000 mortgage products to identify the providers consistently offering the cheapest deals and combined this information to help us find our Which? Recommended Providers (WRPs).
Read on to see the top-scoring banks for customer satisfaction, which providers offered the best deals overall and the four WRPs that do well for both.
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On average, building societies scored higher than high street banks for customer satisfaction in our survey. Nationwide and Principality topped our customer satisfaction table, and Skipton Building Society achieved the third-highest customer satisfaction score.
[Nationwide] is reliable, trustworthy and has great customer service.
That said, customer satisfaction is generally high among customers of residential mortgage lenders. The average customer score in our survey was 73% and just four lenders out of 21 received a score below 70%.
The highest-scoring banks in our survey for customer satisfaction was Accord (75%), followed by Barclays, First Direct, NatWest and Santander, which all achieved a score of 74%.
To see how all 21 lenders ranked in our customer satisfaction table, head to our best mortgage lenders guide.
We analysed three months of mortgage data, from June to September, to understand the providers that generally offer the best deals.
Our research found that First Direct was the cheapest lender on average. Other big banks also performed strongly, with Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds all ranking joint-second.
Among building societies, Nationwide and Coventry offered the cheapest deals on average. Both ranked joint-fifth cheapest overall.
Of the building societies in our customer satisfaction table, Principality Building Society ranked lowest for mortgage deals, placing 22nd cheapest in our analysis. Halifax was the least competitive high street bank in our analysis. It was joint-13th cheapest.
For an idea of the best rates currently available and which lenders offer them, the table shows the best two-year fixed rates for remortgagers.
| 60% | RECOMMENDED PROVIDER Nationwide Building Society | 81% | 5.04% | £1,499 | 6.49% |
| 60% fee free | Coventry Building Society | 71% | 5.36% | £0 | 6.54% |
| 70% | Halifax | 70% | 5.15% | £1,999 | 7.24% |
| 70% fee free | Virgin Money | 69% | 5.48% | £0 | 6.74% |
| 80% | Bank of Ireland UK | 65% | 5.25% | £1,495 | 6.94% |
| 80% fee free | Virgin Money | 69% | 5.55% | £0 | 6.74% |
Table notes: Data from Moneyfacts, updated daily at 1am and 1pm. Customer scores are based on a survey of 6,514 members of the public in August-September 2026 and combine overall satisfaction with likelihood to recommend the provider. See our methodology and brand sample sizes here. The average customer score is 73%. To become a Which? Recommended Provider a lender must get a customer score above 71%, score at least four stars for customer service, rank among the 10 cheapest mortgage lenders for first-time buyers, home movers and remortgagers and be fully covered by the Financial Conduct Authority banking standards regime. 'Revert rate' is the standard variable rate (SVR), which is the mortgage rate you'd be transferred onto when your deal ended if it remained unchanged between now and then.
Our annual mortgage research also asks customers to rate lenders on areas such as online access, fee transparency and overall customer service.
In our survey, high street banks generally scored better than building societies for online access
I have found its customer service excellent and its website very easy to use
NatWest achieved five stars, while Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds received four stars.
Leeds Building Society and Coventry Building Society both received just two stars for online access. Nationwide bucked this trend, with the table-topping lender achieving five stars in this category.
To see how lenders performed across all our star ratings, visit our mortgage review pages.
Whether you choose a bank or a building society, you don't have to compromise between competitive mortgage deals and excellent customer satisfaction.
Our four Which? Recommended Providers (WRPs) for mortgages demonstrate this. Barclays, First Direct, NatWest and Nationwide Building Society all passed our strict criteria to achieve WRP status.
If you're looking for a new mortgage, these four providers are a great place to start. With thousands of mortgage deals out there, you may also want to consider speaking to a mortgage broker. A broker can be especially helpful for first-time buyers and more complicated mortgage applications, such as borrowers with bad credit or those who are self-employed.
When choosing one, ensure they are a whole-of-market broker. That means they will be able to search all deals available via a broker, rather than being restricted to a set panel of lenders.
Historically, banks and building societies differed more. Building societies were initially formed to help members save money and borrow funds to buy property. As a result, these providers only offered home loans and savings accounts. However, now many building societies offer a wide range of financial products.
The key remaining difference is how the two types of institutions are owned.
Most banks are owned by shareholders, who invest in the business and can benefit from its profits. Building societies don't have shareholders. Instead, their members own them, typically customers with a qualifying savings account or mortgage.
This means building societies are run for the benefit of their members rather than external shareholders. Members can also typically have a say in how the society is run, including by voting on certain decisions and electing directors at its Annual General Meeting.
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Our customer scores and star ratings are based on an online survey of 6,514 members of the public in August and September 2026. Customer scores are based on a combination of overall satisfaction and likelihood to recommend the provider. Star ratings are out of five. Mortgage deals analysis uses three months of Moneyfacts mortgage data.
