Maximum LTVs was in the top five of almost every one of the eight different lending types that Knowledge Bank enables brokers to search on, its Criteria Activity Tracker for October has found.
In mainstream residential searches, it was brokers’ third most searched item. For second charges, maximum LTVs was the most searched for criteria, while for commercial loans, equity release and self-build it was second most searched for.
Nicola Firth, chief executive of Knowledge Bank, said: “There is a growing demand for high LTV lending.
“What we see here is the very start of the process, so what it is that borrowers are really interested in, it will be fascinating to see the UK Finance lending statistics as they appear over the next few months as to just how much the number of high LTV loans increases.
“What these searches do highlight is an interesting snapshot into what the actual demand is. The bit that brokers then get to see is the lenders that actually cater for their clients’ needs.
“As the number of lenders with their criteria on Knowledge Bank continues to grow, brokers are increasingly finding that they can find a mortgage even for the most complex client’s needs, often from lenders that they would never have considered, or even been aware of before.”
In buy-to-let it maximum LTVs came in fourth place as it did for bridging loans, but here brokers searched which lenders would lend up to 100% of the purchase price of the property.
Lending to the self-employed was still the number one most searched for criteria in residential mortgages for the second month running.
The shows that a large number of people are not taking what may be considered the easy or secure option of working for others but are instead continuing to go it alone.
Investment in property still appears to be considered as providing a level of security. In buy-to-let, two of the top three searches were for first-time landlords and first-time buyers, so the appeal of rental property appears to be little diminished at least at the enquiry stage, even for those who have not yet entered the housing market.
It also reveals what is already starting to be seen as a trend where rental property is concerned. While new buyers may still be interested in entering the mainstream buy-to-let market, there appears to be a growing shift in the make-up of the rental market.
The search for limited company buy-to-let moved up from third to second most searched for term in buy-to-let, while the top commercial lending search term was for commercial investment mortgages.
Lending to limited companies overseas was the top search in this category, all of which indicates that perhaps existing investors are looking to diversify their investment portfolio.
