Brokers searches for ‘time in current employment’ has become a leading criteria for the first time, according to Knowledge Bank.

This was the third most popular searches for both residential and second charge mortgages last month, says the data firm’s monthly criteria tracker, which covers over 120,000 criteria from more than 250 lenders since 2016.

“It strongly indicates that brokers are seeing more clients looking for mortgages that do not require them to have been in role for a significant time,” says the data group.

It adds: “This suggests a fall out from the end of the furlough scheme and increasing redundancies, leading to a surge in the number of borrowers having started new jobs and moved roles in the past six months.”

The most popular search term for residential loans in June was ‘maximum age at end of term’, while for second charge mortgages it was ‘maximum loan to value’.

The data firm says: “These searches provide an indication of the mortgages that lenders will issue over the next few months.”

However, the survey adds ‘time in current employment’ searches may show the economy is picking up, following three lockdowns over the last 16 months due to the pandemic.

The group says: “It suggests there are a significant number of people who have started new jobs in the past six months and feel secure in their employment prospects to be applying for a mortgage.”

It adds that although ‘furloughed workers’ has dropped out of the five most-searched terms, ‘defaults – registered in the last three years’ featured in both May and June.

In June, this term was the second most-searched term for residential loans, “suggesting there are a growing number of borrowers defaulting on payments”.

In the second charge market, ‘capital raising for debt consolidation’ was the fourth most searched term, “which shows the financial stresses that some families are facing, as they turn to a second charge mortgage in order to clear the debts they have built up perhaps on credit cards and bank loans”.

The data body adds, ‘soft footprint at decision in principle stage’ has been among the most searched term in the residential market for the past five months, as competition for properties continues.

It says: “Many estate agents are requiring prospective buyers to have a decision in principle in place before they’ll allow viewings, so clients who see a property they like need their broker to move swiftly.

“This indicates that brokers are applying to multiple lenders to ensure the client gets a decision quickly, but doesn’t want to impair the client’s credit rating as a result.”

The firm adds that ‘regulated bridging’ criteria searches again took top spot in the bridging market last month.

It says: “With the extended stamp duty deadline falling in June, clients may have been using bridging loans to ensure chains did not collapse if one party pulled out.”

Knowledge Bank operations director Matthew Corker says: “The news that more people are starting new roles is certainly a positive.

“These may be fuelled by the pandemic, which has shifted priorities and increased opportunities in some industries due to flexible working.

“However, the increasing number of searches for ‘defaults’ and ‘capital raising for debt collection’ is a concern for the economy.

“Although we have moved passed the stamp duty deadline, the appetite for moving does not look set to dissipate any time soon.”