The BTL sector accounted for almost a third (33%) of all criteria search changes during September, revealed the latest Knowledge Bank criteria tracker.
Despite this, the top five most searched terms remained consistent, with ‘lending to limited companies’ and ‘first time landlord’ topping the chart for the sixth month in a row.
Meanwhile, the bridging and commercial sectors accounted for 15% of criteria search changes in September, but the top three searches in both categories remained fairly similar to previous months.
For bridging, the most popular criteria search was “regulated bridging”, followed by “minimum loan amount” and “maximum LTV”.
In the commercial space, “minimum loan term” was the most searched term, overthrowing “semi-commercial properties”, which took the second spot.
A new term also entered this category’s top five In September — “excluded commercial sectors”.
Nicola Firth, CEO at Knowledge Bank, said: “Mortgage brokers continue to work tirelessly to place their clients' mortgages in the face of daily product and criteria changes at an unprecedented level and this month revealed some worrying changes.
“As we hear that completions are now taking over 20 weeks, the problem for borrowers is that their mortgage offer could run out prior to completion; as a result, brokers will need to re-broke the deal meaning that they are effectively doing their job twice and only being paid once.
“This is why it’s absolutely crucial to keep on top of criteria changes and be prepared to switch lenders as required.”
