Mortgage brokers have experienced a significant shift in their most popular searches, according to the monthly criteria index from Knowledge Bank, the UK’s largest database of mortgage lending criteria.
The residential category saw a shake-up with ‘maximum age at the end of the term’ remaining in the top spot, while ‘time in current employment’ rose three places to second place, and ‘maximum age for employed income’ entered the top five for the first time, pushing ‘missed or late payments’ to fifth place.
In the equity release sector, ‘ex-local authority houses’ became the most popular search for the first time, while in the second charge category, the search for ‘maximum age at application’ entered the top five for the first time.
Knowledge Bank CEO, Nicola Firth (pictured), commented on the turbulent lending landscape that brokers are facing, saying: “Brokers are operating in a tumultuous lending landscape with mortgage product pricing and criteria changing daily.
“In 2023 there are a tremendous number of borrowers coming off fixed rates who are faced not only with a significant price hike but also tighter lending criteria.
“It is no longer a simple remortgage process and borrowers are finding that they cannot assume they will still qualify for the same product from the same lenders.”
Firth added that criteria sourcing is now an essential part of the mortgage application process: “Criteria sourcing is now firmly embedded in the mortgage application process as it’s crucial brokers verify their client will be accepted by a lender before searching for a specific rate or product.”
The Knowledge Bank’s criteria index tracks the most common searches performed by brokers in each category as they look to place a client’s case.
The buy-to-let sector was the only area to remain consistent with ‘lending to limited companies’ as the most popular search, followed by ‘first-time landlords’ and the ‘requirement to be a homeowner’.
