Canberra-based Tiffen and Co and The Mortgage Detective have merged.

The combined Kingston-based firm now has a team of 10 loan writers and a mortgage book of $1bn, making it the largest brokerage currently operating in the ACT.

Alison Whittle, founder of The Mortgage Detective and co-director of the new business, said the merger provided “economies of scale and cost efficiencies” at a challenging time when “commissions are being squeezed”.

The merger was made easier by the fact both Tiffen and Co and The Mortgage Detective operate on the same platform and aggregate under National Mortgage Brokers (nMB).

Both Whittle and co-director Gerard Tiffen are also shareholders in nMB.