“Furloughed workers” were among the most searched-for criteria terms over the last month, as brokers tried to secure finance for borrowers who have been affected by the pandemic, according to the latest tracker from Knowledge Bank.
The only criteria term which ranked higher coming top of all searches last month was “maximum age at end of mortgage term”.
In the third spot, after “furloughed workers” was “Help to Buy equity loan scheme”, which is likely to be the result of more borrowers trying to purchase properties through the government-backed initiative before restrictions are imposed in the spring.
In fourth place was “self-employed, one year’s accounts” and in fifth was “soft footprint at decision in principle stage”.
In the buy-to-let market, “first-time landlords” was top of the search list, followed by “lending to limited companies” and “minimum income, interest-only/ part and part, single applicant”.
The fourth most searched for buy-to-let term was “requirement to be a homeowner”, which combined with the top term on the list suggests growing interest from novice landlords looking to take their first steps into the rental sector.
“Holiday lets” was fifth on the list, reinforcing anecdotal evidence from brokers about increased demand for short-term rental properties.
The top equity release search term was “leasehold flat / applicant owns part or all of freehold”.
For brokers researching second-charge, bridging and self-build mortgages, “maximum loan-to-value” was the most popular term in all categories, suggesting affordability remains squeezed for many borrowers.
Knowledge Bank lender relationship manager Matthew Corker says: “The only constant at the moment is change.
“With the furlough scheme back, discussions around an extension to the stamp duty holiday and record numbers of mortgage approvals, the property sector continues to move at a rapid pace.
“Some trends are continuing, with max LTVs again being a hot topic. “Lenders are responding and in November, many LTVs were gradually increased back to pre-Covid levels.
“Lenders are constantly adapting criteria to keep up with the evolving market.”
