According to Unbiased.co.uk’s latest Advice Drivers report for April consumer appetite for whole of market mortgage advice on ‘first time buying’ remained the most popular area of advice in 2011 for people using unbiased.co.uk’s ‘find a mortgage adviser’ search.
Remortgage advice was also on the up, rising from 31% in March to 33% in April, while the percentage of consumers seeking residential whole of market mortgage advice dropped off, falling from 24% (in March) to 20% (in April).
Of those searching for mortgage advisers, 17% were after buy-to-let, 7% wanted self-employed advice, 6% wanted equity release advice, 4 per cent wanted sub-prime information and 3% wanted advice on flexible loans.
The number one general advice driver, according to unbiased.co.uk, was for retirement planning advice with 41% of consumers searching for retirement planning advice. This highlights a substantial year on year increase, when only 35% of consumers sought retirement planning advice in the same month last year.
The second most popular advice driver in April was ‘investment and savings’, with over a quarter of consumers (28%) searching for an IFA specialising in this area. Despite a slight decrease from the previous month (30%), demand for independent financial advice in these specialist areas continues to be high as people consider their savings and long-term financial planning in the current low interest rate environment.
Karen Barrett, chief executive of unbiased.co.uk, commented: “The new tax year brought a number of changes for consumers’ personal finances and planning for the future. …it is not surprising to see that retirement planning remains in demand when it comes to consumers seeking professional financial advice.
“Our ‘find a mortgage adviser’ search has once again seen an increase in the number of searches for whole of market mortgage advisers who specialise in first time buyer advice, suggesting a change in consumer outlook over the current mortgage and housing market.”
