Similarly, lenders being slow was the most common reason brokers did not opt to use their services, the survey found.
The report, which polled 424 brokers in May, showed Halifax won the prize for speediest lender with a rating of 93.2 per cent.
Halifax was also crowned ‘brokers’ favourite lender’ overall, with BM Solutions and NatWest scooping second and third respectively.
Tellingly, NatWest and BM also had the second and third best ratings for speed.
Specialist lenders struggled the most to turn around an application quickly but some “high street” banks also scored badly in the speed category, with Metro scoring 54.4 per cent, Barclays 63.3 per cent and Clydesdale Bank receiving the overall lowest score for speed at 42.4 per cent.
Mr Lakey said he would avoid most building societies if he needed a fast application turnaround, but also mentioned Clydesdale as a “no go” for deadline cases.
A Metro Bank spokesperson said: “We’re committed to providing the best in service and convenience for our customers and our brokers.
“We always work closely with our brokers to understand their feedback and help us improve in the future.”
The spokesperson said Metro had seen a 30 per cent improvement in its application to offer times this year.
A Clydesdale Bank spokesperson said customers were at the heart of what the bank did and stressed it was constantly looking for ways to improve its service, whether that be improving the speed or reviewing its policies to allow it to help more customers.
The spokesperson added: "We manually underwrite and individually assess many of our customers’ applications and while this sometimes can mean it takes a little longer, we believe it’s the best way to help customers with more complex needs."
Barclays declined to comment.
imogen.tew@ft.com
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