Mortgage brokers are increasingly searching for “defaults” and “missed and late payments” as the cost of living crisis continues to impact borrowers, Knowledge Bank’s latest criteria tracker results have revealed.

Both terms featured prominently during March in the most-searched criteria on Knowledge Bank’s search platform.

With energy costs increasing significantly in April, the criteria search specialist suggested that searches for terms related to financial woes are likely to increase in the future.

Some borrowers were looking to use second charge loans to consolidate debts, with brokers also searching for “mortgage or secured loan arrears or defaults” in March.

Knowledge Bank operations director, Matthew Corker, commented: “The volume of searches for both defaults and missed payments sadly looks like it will continue to build. Increasing energy prices and inflation outstripping wage growth will hit some hard and in the following months we may see more and more struggling to pay bills.

“On the positive side, the jobs market is back in full-swing and those that perhaps put off moving roles during the pandemic are now looking to switch careers which explains the interest from brokers.”

Knowledge Bank’s data also revealed that the buy-to-let (BTL) market is currently dominated by searches from brokers working with inexperienced landlords. Interest in the rental market from both “first-time landlords” and “first-time buyers” saw both terms in the five most-searched in March.

The data also showed that “regulated bridging” featured prominently in brokers’ searches in March, marking the fifth consecutive month as the most-searched term. Alongside bridging loans for residential properties, Knowledge Bank found that brokers are also searching for “commercial property” finance.

“The BTL sector continues to gain interest and lenders are launching new BTL products frequently,” Corker added. “Those that are open to working with inexperienced landlords are capitalising on a growing niche in the sector and more and more lenders may follow suit.

“Although regulated bridging continues to dominate searches, the growing number of loans connected to commercial properties is an interesting part of the market. With the changing face of the high street, some businesses are adapting their premises to accommodate the new way consumers both shop and work.”

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