Searches for borrowers with financial worries go up

May 6, 2021 by Brendan O'Neill

Borrowers

New data taken from the SmartrCriteria set up by Legal and General reveals that there was an increase in the number of mortgage searches for borrowers who have money worries during March.

More than 8,000 mortgage advisors across the UK utilise SmartrCriteria when searching for mortgage products that meet the needs of their clients, and the data for March shows that there was a rise of 40% in the number of searches for clients who have a satisfied default on their credit report. This shows that there was a rise in the number of people who managed to clear arrears and wanted to find suitable mortgage loans during that month.

There was also a rise – this time of 28% – in searches for mortgage products for borrowers who had missed repayments that were due during the month. Furthermore, searches for products suitable for people with more than one job rose by 51% in March, suggesting borrowers are actively looking for ways to boost their earnings in the wake of the pandemic.

There was a drop of 9% in the number of searches for mortgage loans suitable for people on furlough compared with February, but this remained the second most searched-for criteria among advisors.

According to Mortgage Solutions, Clare Beardmore from Legal and General Mortgage Club said the figures showed the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, but that at least the government strategies to boost the market were helping people pursue plans to buy despite this.

This data shows the sort of products advisors should concentrate on after finishing their CeMAP training.