Criteria search specialist Knowledge Bank said the data showed that brokers increasingly wanted to research which lenders would consider interest only clients.
Knowledge Bank believed that this may result from regulatory scrutiny of interest only loans, which has prompted lenders to pitch new products, such as lifetime loans, as a solution for borrowers who may end their mortgage term with no repayment vehicle in place.
Knowledge Bank’s Criteria Activity Tracker incorporates 91,000 criteria from more than 200 lenders and offers a perspective on market demand.
In residential mortgages, searches on right to buy loans dropped out of the Tracker in August. The search had appeared for the first time in July.
In bridging, searches on regulated bridging rose to the top. Searches for maximum loan to value (LTV) were more frequent than those on minimum loan amounts.
Knowledge Bank said the rise of searches for lenders with lower minimum loan requirements indicated that borrowers want bridging for smaller projects such as refurbishments.
The Tracker recorded 30,000 changes to mortgage lending criteria in the first half of 2019.
Nicola Firth, chief executive of Knowledge Bank, said keeping up-to-date with the mortgage market had “never been more challenging” and that the sector had become more “fluid”.
She said: “The startling fact is that there were almost 30,000 changes to criteria in the first half of 2019. We know from working with the Financial Conduct Authority that the regulator is well aware of the pace of change in our sector.
“In a market of such product volatility the risk is that there could be a tsunami of accusations of inappropriate product recommendations in years to come.
“In five years, there will undoubtedly be sourcing evidence that a cheaper product was available, but not necessarily the understanding or evidence that the client did not meet the qualifying criteria. Solid compliance evidence of criteria searches is now a business-critical activity,” Firth added.
