Ananova:

When borrowing money to buy a property most people visit a mortgage broker. These are the middlemen and women who, in theory, have access to all the information necessary to secure us the most appropriate deal.

Over the last 10 years or so it's been rather lucrative work but house prices are falling and the commissions they earn are starting to dry up - the British Bankers' Association has revealed that mortgage approvals in June were down 66% on the same month last year

Banks are now more cautious about who they lend to and are increasingly cutting out the broker and dealing direct with buyers.

The strain is showing. A Which? investigation has found that fewer than one in 10 mortgage intermediaries are providing acceptable advice.

Of the 50 advisers Which? approached 41 failed to provide key information and 35 failed to check if the mortgage was affordable - indeed most seemed preoccupied with selling insurance products or other forms of cover, even if it was unsuitable.

One broker dismissed the idea that interest rates might fall again when recommending a fixed-rate mortgage (weeks later rates were cut).

Another used Kylie Minogue's breast cancer to persuade a researcher to buy critical illness cover.

All this comes two months after Sky News uncovered evidence that some brokers are so desperate they are prepared to break the law to seal a deal.

We posed as a first-time buyer interested in a flat worth £250,000. We claimed to have a 10% deposit but the problem was we only earned £29,000 a year.

We had champagne tastes, and beer money, and most brokers knew it.

Of the 15 brokers we visited the majority told us such a loan was impossible. To buy a flat like that nowadays we'd need an annual salary of at least £50,000.

To my astonishment though some seemed prepared to not only exaggerate our earnings but also forge pay-slips to prove it.

Mortgage fraud is a criminal offence. If uncovered it can land brokers in prison.

There are other consequences too: banks end-up lending money to people they would normally turn down and buyers can end up with mortgages they can't afford to repay.

The Financial Services Authority is responsible for regulating mortgage brokers.

Last November it warned there were an unacceptable number of dishonest practitioners, all the evidence suggests that bad practice is still widespread.