Criteria searches in the mortgage market showed ‘continuing volatility’ across a range of market sectors in December, new data from Knowledge Bank suggested.

The criteria search specialist measured searches across the equity release market, as well as residential, buy-to-let (BTL) and self-build markets.

Knowledge Bank found that for the third month in a row, none of its previous top five searches in the equity release market featured in the month of December. The leading search – ‘Non-Standard Construction’ – had only been in the top five twice before.

Knowledge Bank CEO, Nicola Firth, suggested December had seen a ‘huge amount of change’ in the criteria that brokers had searched for.

“The equity release market seems to be particularly unpredictable but there have been a number of surprising new entries and re-entries across every sector of the market,” Firth commented.

In the residential market, the firm revealed ‘Help to Buy Equity Loan Scheme’ appeared in the top five for the first time since August, and highlighted that from March 2021, the scheme will only be available to first-time buyers with ‘tight’ regional price caps.

The data also suggested the residential market was indicating a clear shift towards mortgages for older borrowers – with searches for both ‘Maximum Age at End of Term’ and ‘Maximum Age at Application’ appearing in the top three.

The firm found a first-time entry for ‘Day One Remortgage’ in the BTL market, while the second most frequent search in this category – ‘Lending to Trustees’ – had also never featured in the top five.

Furthermore, Knowledge Bank found a new term for the top five in the self-build market – ‘Applicants paid in a foreign currency’ – suggesting this could reflect an increasing number of Brits working abroad.

Firth continued: “The searches in residential reflect just how challenging the mortgage market remains for people wanting to get onto the housing ladder and those who will still be paying off mortgages, potentially well into retirement.

“Brokers should make it a New Year’s resolution to make sure they are using all the tools available to them in order to free up some of their own time whilst also ensuring that they give their clients the best advice possible and find them the best lender for their needs.”

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