House searches by advisors set record levels last month, while inquiries for lenders willing to consider borrowers with repayment defaults also jumped, says the Legal & General Mortgage Club.
Broker searches for the right mortgage rose by an unprecedented 17% between February and March, according to data from the lender’s SmartrCriteria tool.
This tallies with HMRC figures last week, which found that the number of homes sold in the UK hit a record high in March with around 180,690 recorded transactions, double the total in March 2020 and the highest number since it started publishing the data in its current form in 2005.
However, the Club’s said it also tracked a sharp rise in searches for lenders willing to consider borrowers with previous repayment defaults last month, which reflects a “continued impact of the pandemic in complicating borrowers’ personal finances”.
It says its tool’s most searched criteria point last month related to mortgages suited to borrowers with a satisfied default, “indicating that many borrowers have retrospectively settled missed payments recently”.
Demand for furlough-friendly mortgages remained high and, despite overall volumes having dipped by just over 9%, this was the second most searched criteria point in March among brokers.
The Club adds searches for applicants with a second job increased by 51%, which is “a further indication of financial strain on customers”.
It says searches for borrowers with outstanding missed payments also jumped by 28% last month.
Legal & General Mortgage Club head of mortgage transformation and operations Clare Beardmore says: “While it is clear that various government incentives are driving many to push ahead with their homeownership plans, the rising number of searches for lenders who will accept applicants with credit impairments and multiple income streams shows that the economic impact of the crisis continues to be felt by many.
“While activity in the housing market may be high, advisers are increasingly needing powerful tools to help them progress complex cases.”
