Valentine's day massacre for criteria searching in February
08 March 2023
Knowledge Bank’s monthly criteria index has revealed that during February brokers’ most popular searches underwent a significant overhaul.
As the UK’s largest database of mortgage lending criteria, Knowledge Bank tracks all of the most common searches performed by brokers as they look to place a client’s case. After a frantic start to the year for product changes coupled with a continuing coats of living crisis and a myriad interest rate rises brokers are working harder than ever to place cases.
The February criteria index reveals that in the Residential category the search for ‘maximum age at the end of the term’ held onto the top spot but it was all change below that. ‘Time in current employment’ rose three places to take the second spot and the ‘maximum age for employed income’ entered the top five for the first time relegating the search for ‘missed or late payments’ to fifth place.
Criteria searches in the Equity Release sector saw the search for ‘ex local authority houses’ the most popular search for the first time. Last month’s search for ‘married couple application in a single name’ was pushed down to third place and ‘minimum property value’ entered the top five in fourth place.
The most popular search in the Second Charge category was once again for the ‘maximum loan to value’. However, entering the top five for the first time in second place was the search for the ‘maximum age at application’ which suggests an older profile of secured loan customers. The search for the ‘minimum loan amount’ which had been the second most common search for the past three months dropped to fifth place.
Bridging loan searches had fewer change in February than many other product types with the top four searches remaining consistent but the search for ‘adverse credit’ entering the most popular searches in fifth spot for the first time in over a year.
The ‘minimum loan amount’ was the most popular search in the Commercial category for the sixth month in a row with the ‘maximum loan to value’ rising two places to third and the search for ‘commercial investment mortgages’ new into the top five.
The Buy to Let sector was the only beacon of consistency across all the lending types with a clean sweep of the top 5 searches in line from the month before. ‘Lending to limited companies’; was the most popular search with ‘first time landlords’ and the ‘requirement to be a homeowner’ making up the top three places.
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. 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.”
Brokers wanting to find out more about Knowledge Bank can visit: www.knowledgebank.uk
