Knowledge Bank has revealed the searches for mortgage criteria that brokers have been carrying out on behalf of their clients.
The most popular searches centred around ‘maximum age at the end of term’ and ‘missed or late payments’.
‘Time in current employment’ and ‘maximum age at end of term using employed income only’ were the third and fourth most searched items.
Searches for self-employed borrowers haven’t featured in the top five since June.
Knowledge says this could suggest that the self-employed are sitting tight and remortgaging or taking product transfers when offered.
For those topping up their home loan with a second charge mortgage, there was a theme of people maxing out.
Three of the top four searches were: ‘maximum LTV / Loan to Value’, ‘maximum loan amount’ and ‘maximum age at end of term’.
For the buy-to-let sector, three of the top five searches were: ‘first-time landlord’, ‘no requirement to be a homeowner’ and ‘minimum income – interest only / part and part single applicant’.
In equity release, there were three notable searches in the top five; searches for people wanting equity release on ‘ex-local authority houses’ and ‘sheltered accommodation’.
In the bridging and commercial sector, the key searches were those who wanted to know what both their maximum and minimum possible loan amounts could be.
There was also a high number of searches for those looking for bridging as a second charge loan.
Knowledge Bank chief executive Nicola Firth says: “There are over half a million people still due to come to the end of their fixed rate mortgage before the end of the year.
“The hold put on interest rates this month may trigger confidence in people to find that next rate, but even though inflation has started to fall, there are many people really struggling with the cost of day-to-day living and the cost of their mortgage is a part of that.
“This is clearly reflected in the searches being carried out by their mortgage brokers and the fact that the second-most popular search is for people with missed or late payments just illustrates the challenges that many people are still facing.”
