If you place mortgages in the UK, NatWest for Intermediaries is one of those portals you’ll end up living in quoting, keying, packaging, chasing, and ultimately getting offers out the door. Think of it as NatWest’s broker-only front door: a dedicated website and case-management platform, plus a toolkit of calculators, policy guides, service-level updates, and human support for when your cases need a nudge. Here’s a practical, up-to-date walkthrough of what it is, how it works, and how to squeeze the most efficiency from it.
What “NatWest for Intermediaries” Actually Is
NatWest runs a dedicated intermediary site under the banner NatWest Intermediary Solutions. From that hub, you’ll find the lending criteria, product pages, news/changes, forms, service levels, and guidance built specifically for mortgage brokers (not consumers). It’s the launchpad to the Broker Portal, where you register or log in to submit and manage applications. If you’re new to the panel, start with registration/login; if you’re returning, head straight for the portal.
Broker Portal: How It Streamlines Your Casework
The Broker Portal is there to keep everything under one roof: start, submit, and manage applications, upload supporting documents, and download what you’ve keyed as a PDF. Alerts and built-in guidance reduce back-and-forth, and you can message online for updates. The pitch is simple fewer paper forms, more structure, and immediate visibility on case status 24/7. If you’re used to email chains and spreadsheet trackers, this will feel refreshingly centralised.
Affordability & Calculators You’ll Use Daily
Before you burn time on a full fact-find, jump into NatWest’s Affordability Calculators. There are separate tools for residential, residential additional borrowing, and buy-to-let. These are intermediary-only tools designed to help you gauge how much a client can borrow useful for pre-qualification calls, shortlisting products, and sanity-checking complex affordability profiles. Do note the important caveat: passing the calculator isn’t a lending decision; underwriters can still decline even when the calc “passes.” Treat it as guidance, not gospel.
When you dive into the forms, the residential calculator will prompt for the usual recurring commitments other mortgages, hire purchase, maintenance, and so on giving you a granular feel for how NatWest frames expenditure. Meanwhile, the BTL calculator supports the investment side of your book, aligning with NatWest’s buy-to-let policy framework. If your desk flips between residential and portfolio work, you’ll likely keep both calculator tabs pinned.
Current Service Levels and What They Mean for Timelines
A lender’s speed can make or break a chain. NatWest publishes current service levels so you can set expectations with clients and estate agents. Recent published figures include indicative timings like 1 day to set up applications, 2 days for underwriter assessment and additional information checks, and a 10-day “speed to offer” headline remembering that real-world complexity (valuation, queries, third-party delays) can extend that. Use these figures as a guide when you book surveys, negotiate clauses, or prep clients for turnaround.
If your query spans multiple tasks, NatWest advises adding relevant processing times together. Translation: pad your timeline if your case needs both underwriting and further information review and communicate that buffer early to avoid Friday-afternoon panic.
Lending Criteria and Product Highlights (BTL & Large Loans Included)
From the intermediary site you can jump into NatWest’s Lending Criteria library and Product pages. This is where you’ll sanity-check everything from LTV/LTI caps and term/age rules to documentation quirks across employed, self-employed, contractors, and landlords. If you’re packaging a case with unusual income (or multiple streams), this criteria index is your first stop before you “try it and see.
Working with investors? The Buy-to-Let hub consolidates the tools and guidance you’ll need for landlord clients, including links back to the affordability calculator. If you’re structuring a portfolio remortgage or a rate/term re-balance, having the BTL area open alongside products and criteria keeps your workflow clean.
For higher ticket borrowing, NatWest details Large Loans features such as day-one free valuations to specific limits, potential LTI up to 5.5x (credit score dependent), maximum term to 40 years and age to 75, certain stress-rate treatments on 5-year fixes, and no cap on procuration fees. If you’re courting upper-end residential cases or refinancing prime stock, these levers can materially change the recommendation you deliver.
Product Transfers and Ongoing Client Retention
Retention matters. NatWest enables product transfers well ahead of expiry you can secure a new rate up to four months before the client’s current deal ends. There’s no additional underwriting, and processing is designed to be quick and straightforward. In practice, this lets you build a tidy annual review rhythm: pull a list of maturities due in ~5–6 months, triage who might benefit from early transfer, and protect the book before competitors call your client.
On the “Latest News and Changes” feed, you’ll also see product and policy updates useful for spotting rate tweaks or packaging requirements that might change your shortlists. Keep an eye on these when you’re mid-pipeline to avoid surprises. (For example, NatWest has published dated product-change notices and guidance on operational cut-offs.)
Getting Help: Packaging, Contacts & Compliance
Even with slick portals, cases get messy. NatWest publishes Income & Packaging guidance (what proof they’ll accept, how many payslips, what to do for BTL evidence, etc.)—gold dust for first-time submissions and for avoiding pend-backs. If you still get stuck, the Contact Us section points you toward the right route: self-serve via A–Z lending pages, the portal guidance for technical issues, or phone through to business development when something truly needs escalation.
It’s also worth noting the dedicated pages for Consumer Duty, customers in vulnerable situations, and other compliance-first content. These resources help you align advice, disclosure, and communications with regulatory expectations—useful both for file quality and when training junior advisers.
Quick Workflow Tips (that brokers actually use)
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Triage with calculators, then criteria: sanity-check borrowing potential and policy fit before you promise anything to the client or agent.
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Quote timelines using live service levels: manage expectations; pad for multi-stage queries.
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Stay portal-native: upload docs, use messages, keep a case diary in one place; it reduces email archaeology.
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Lock in product transfers early: secure retention four months out and smooth your pipeline.
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Refresh on policy updates: watch the news/changes feed when packaging time-sensitive cases.
Related: Universal Square, Manchester: A Connected Campus That Lets Work Flow
Conclusion
NatWest for Intermediaries is not just a login; it’s an ecosystem built around how brokers really work—calculators for quick triage, a portal for end-to-end case control, transparent service levels for deadline management, and clear criteria/product pages for packaging accuracy. If you build your workflow around those pillars and tap support when needed, you’ll reduce rework, sharpen your recommendations, and keep pipelines moving even when the market is busy.
If you want, I can turn this into a printable one-page SOP/checklist for your team (calculator → criteria → DIPs → packaging → submission → monitoring → transfer).