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Broker searches reflect ‘tumultuous lending landscape’

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  • 08/03/2023
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Broker searches reflect ‘tumultuous lending landscape’
The most common searches by brokers in February reflect the frenzy of changes in mortgage pricing and criteria over the past month.

According to Knowledge Bank’s latest figures, the top search term for residential mortgages was maximum age at the end of term, a repeat of last month.

This was followed by employment or time in current employment, which rose three places, interest-only mortgages and missed or late payments.

On the buy-to-let side, the number one search was lending to limited companies, with first-time landlords taking the second slot.

Requirement to be a homeowner, minimum income for interest-only and part and part single application and first-time buyers rounded out the top five.

For second charge loans, the first slot was taken by maximum loan to value (LTV), which is the second time it has taken first position.

This was followed by maximum age at application, the first time it ranked in the top 10, unregulated buy to let, maximum age at the end of term and loan amount.

On the equity release side, ex-local authority houses took the top spot for the first time. The second most searched term was leasehold remaining term, with married couple application in one or single name coming after, along with minimum property value and debt management plan.

Self-build searches were maximum LTV, maximum borrowing amount, minimum loan amount and maximum loan to cost.

Bridging showed little change with regulated bridging taking the number one position, followed by minimum loan amount, maximum LTV and second charge loan.

Commercial criteria searches ranked include minimum loan amount, semi-commercial properties, maximum LTV and mixed use properties or part commercial.

Knowledge Bank CEO Nicola Firth said “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. As a result, brokers are having to manage their clients’ expectations and work much harder to place cases.”

She added: “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.”

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