Debt issues dominating second charge criteria searches

Brokers searched for lenders who would allow unsatisfied county court judgements, ongoing debt management plans, adverse credit repair or borrowers on benefits with no earned income.

For the residential sector, the criteria brokers were most interested in was the maximum age lenders would allow at the end of the mortgage term.

The main focus for brokers researching the buy-to-let sector in February was finding lenders who would lend to first-time landlords. This criteria search has placed in the top five for the past six months, and Knowledge Bank says the desire for borrowers to secure their first buy-to-let should now be classified as a "trend rather than a passing fad".

Nicola Firth, CEO of Knowledge Bank, said: “Once again the criteria index allows us to get ahead of the market and understand the cases that brokers are actually trying to place rather than just those that make it through the lending net. An increase in the number and complexity of products can be seen in each and every lending sector and so the challenge for brokers to find the right home for their clients’ loan becomes more and more onerous. With new lenders entering the market and existing lenders expanding their product options.

“We also constantly hear from brokers that criteria searching, in addition to helping them save time in placing cases, vitally enables them to evidence and document their process should their advice be questioned at any time in the future. Borrowers and regulators alike simply aren’t concerned how difficult it is to keep abreast of all available product options, just that it is done.”