Visas, expats and holiday lets were among the top five mortgage searches by UK brokers last year.

The new data comes from the Legal & General Mortgage Club, which reveals the type of mortgages were popular during what it called “an ‘unprecedented’ for the mortgage market”.

Legal & General’s SmartrCriteria tool, which helps advisers quickly determine which lenders would consider a particular mortgage applicant, recorded that mortgage searches related to buyers with a “visa” was the number one criteria search among advisers in 2020.

The firm says the rise in visa-related enquiries could be attributed to such factors as the weaker pound, the increased interest from Hong Kong-based buyers and the uncertainty facing EU nationals and expats being able to qualify for a mortgage post-Brexit.

Second came searches relating to the “maximum age” a lender would lend to a customer.

The financial services business says this could be driven by older borrowers, including those seeking to downsize, who were looking to benefit from the latest stamp duty holiday introduced last July.

It adds: “This tax has long been seen as a significant barrier to so-called ‘Last Time Buyers’ who want to move into smaller, more manageable properties in later life.”

The third highest mortgage criteria search was related to buyers who were interested in taking out their first buy-to-let mortgage. The popularity could be explained by landlords looking to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday.

Holiday lets was the fourth most searched mortgage criteria. Holiday lets, such as the type that can be provided through the Airbnb platform, gained popularity over the summer as people opted for UK ‘staycations’. Legal & General Mortgage Club’s findings may indicate that many property investors were looking to purchase buy to let properties in response to this trend.

Finally, “expats who were not in the UK” was the fifth biggest search, suggesting that in addition to the searches for clients who had a visa, overseas buyers were also reacting to other factors which may include recent changes that come into effect in for stamp duty for non-UK buyers and the uncertainty facing expats and non-UK nationals post-Brexit.

Legal & General Mortgage Club head of mortgage transformation and operations Clare Beardmore says: “Last year’s top searches also highlight that despite ongoing disruption caused by the pandemic, the mortgage market remains open to all types of borrowers.”

Beardmore adds: “There are clearly options for many borrowers, whatever their circumstances and speaking to an independent mortgage adviser who can help borrowers to navigate the available products should be everyone’s first step.”