Knowledge Bank has reported that March saw a complete change of the most common searches on its criteria platform performed by brokers in the equity release sector.

This is the first month that a sector has had a completely new top five since Knowledge Bank’s index began in July 2018.

As the UK’s largest database of mortgage lending criteria, Knowledge Bank tracks the most common searches performed by brokers each month as they look to place a client’s case.

The top search in the equity release sector was for lenders who would allow a “married couple application in a single name” followed by brokers searching for “buy-to-let equity release”.

Making up the remaining top five criteria that brokers were searching on behalf of their clients were search terms for “leasehold remaining term/beginning of term”, “maximum age at application” and “early repayment charges”.

There were also several changes in search popularity in the second charge sector, with only the search for the “maximum LTV” holding onto the top spot. Knowledge Bank’s data also revealed the two searches entering the top five were focused on debt, with “defaults over £500” and “capital raising for debt consolidation” the third and fourth most common searches respectively.

Bridging and buy-to-let searches offered more consistency in March, with the Knowledge Bank index showing that all the top five held their place in the rankings for a second month.

“The clean sweep of changes in equity release searches but total consistency in BTL demonstrates once again that there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to criteria changes,” Knowledge Bank CEO, Nicola Firth, commented.

“This is why it's so imperative brokers stay up-to-date with any and all changes. We recently completed the five millionth search on Knowledge Bank, equating to almost 2,500 a day which clearly shows the conscious effort made by brokers to source the best options for their clients.

“As we continue to endure a period of economic instability coupled with the pressures of the increased costs of living, criteria not price continues to be the main factor in securing a mortgage deals.”

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