As the furlough scheme drew to a close in September, searches demonstrated growing numbers of people were either in a new job or had recently set up their own business, Knowledge Bank’s data suggested.
Also among the top five sought after criteria in October were the terms ‘income multiple used for affordability assessment’ and ‘missed or late payments’. The criteria platform said this indicated people were stretching their incomes.
This was reflected in the second charge market as the terms ‘capital raising for debt consolidation’ and ‘mortgage or secured loan arrears or defaults’ made the top five most searched.
Matthew Corker, operations director at Knowledge Bank, said: “With the end of furlough, brokers are working with a number of clients who have started new roles, and lenders have reacted, loosening criteria for borrowers starting new jobs.
“This follows a raft of criteria changes related to self-employed borrowers. By reducing restrictions imposed on freelancer applicants, lenders demonstrated that overall, they are confident that the economy is returning to normal.”
“There are still a huge number of vacancies across sectors, and there will undoubtedly be more new starters in the coming months, so this may well be an area that lenders continue to look at,” he added.
