Out of the four new terms in the top five, three related to managing or consolidating debt
Knowledge Bank’s latest monthly criteria index shows the second charge market saw the biggest change in January.
Out of the four new terms in the top five, three related to managing or consolidating debt, including those with CCJs looking to second charge loans for finance.
The one constant in January was ‘Maximum loan to value (LTV)’ which has been the top searched ‘second charge’ criteria since May 2019.
For the first time since August 2020, ‘Furloughed workers’ reached the top spot in the residential market again. Meanwhile, searches for ‘Joint borrower sole proprietor’ reached the top five most-searched terms in residential criteria for the first time since February 2020.
Last month, ‘First time buyers’ reached the top five search terms in the buy-to-let market for the first time since February 2020. ‘First time landlord’ also remained in the top two most-searched terms for the eighth month in a row. ‘Lending to limited companies’ was the top searched term in the buy-to-let market.
In the bridging market, ‘development bridging’ made the top five for the first time since February 2019. Knowledge Bank said the volume of searches for ‘Development Bridging – Maximum Loan to GDV LTV against End Value’ suggests there are people using bridging loans for major redevelopments. ‘Commercial Owner Occupier’ entered the top five in the commercial arena, potentially to raise funds which then can be re-invested into the business.
Knowledge Bank recorded a record 52,000 criteria changes in 2020, and this January had another 3,000 changes.
Matthew Corker, operations director at Knowledge Bank, said: As we move into 2021, the mortgage market continues to shift dramatically. There is significant interest in debt consolidation in the second charge market, while the buy-to-let sector continues to attract interest from both potential and existing investors.