The latest Knowledge Bank Tracker revealed ‘furloughed workers’ was no longer amongst the most-searched for term by brokers following a 13-month stint in the top spot.

It dropped out of the top five in May to be replaced by ‘maximum age at the end of term’ as the most searched criteria during the month.

According to Knowledge Bank this was because the average age of first-time buyers was now over 31 according to Halifax. So, as house prices continued rising both older and younger borrowers were extending terms to make repayments manageable.

First-time landlords

There was one criteria trend which continued, however, with ‘first-time landlord’ being the most searched term in the buy-to-let market for the fifth consecutive month. Since the start of 2021 it has either been the first or second on the ‘most searched’ list in this sector.

Knowledge Bank said this demonstrated the UK populace’s love affair with owning property. It said owning a buy-to-let may well have become possible for more people as a result of increased savings due to the pandemic.

Affordability

Despite the return of 95% loan to value (LTV) mortgages, affordability was still an issue for borrowers, the report found.

Indeed, ‘first-time buyers’ was consistently in the five most-searched terms. It has featured every month in 2021, highlighting to the difficulty faced by younger people to meet the affordability requirements of a residential mortgage.

Knowledge Bank said there were a significant number of people with larger deposits looking to get on the housing ladder by buying a rental property, where mortgage affordability was predominantly based on rental income.

This predicament was highlighted by the fact ‘income multiple used for affordability assessment’ was the third most-searched term in the residential market.

As house prices continued to accelerate, the number of borrowers looking for the maximum they coud borrow against their income was set to continue growing, Knowledge Bank said.

Second charge and bridging

The criteria terms searched in the second charge market demonstrated the two-speed economy in the UK.

The pandemic has heavily impacted the income of some, with those in hospitality devastated by the lockdowns; this was reflected with brokers searching for ‘capital raising for debt consolidation’.

However, on the flip side, there are those looking to build home-offices or extend their house, with ‘capital raising for home improvements’ the second most-searched term in May.

The fourth most-searched term was ‘capital raising for business purposes’, this could be for those looking to invest in their business, either by refurbishing an office, or landlords looking to raise capital to invest in a property.

In the bridging arena, ‘regulated bridging’ was the top searched term, potentially due to buyers using bridging finance when a property chain has broken down, or to purchase a residential property at auction. The prominence of ‘regulated bridging’ suggests there are some looking to benefit from the stamp duty holiday, and are using bridging loans to ensure sales go through in time for the June deadline.

Matthew Corker, operations director at Knowledge Bank, said: “Furlough has gone from being an unheard-of term, to a mainstay in our lexicon over the past 14 months.

“The fact that in May it has dropped out of the most-searched terms could suggest sunnier times on the horizon as more people return to work, as it hints that we are beginning to return to normality. However, we are certainly not completely out of the woods.

“There are still plenty who are struggling as a result of the pandemic, and the searches for ‘debt consolidation’ confirms this.

“The buy-to-let sector continues to go from strength-to-strength with interest from those new to the sector, and new to house buying. The continued interest from first-time buyers, indicates that despite the return of 95% LTV mortgages, some are still struggling with affordability for residential mortgages.

“With the market continuing to change at a rapid pace, criteria are constantly evolving and brokers could spend hours every day on the phone to lenders and updating spreadsheets. Using a comprehensive criteria search system can save them a massive amount of time, and also ensure they are providing best advice.”