"We expect that criteria search volumes on our Velocity platform will continue to rise significantly over the next year."
As interest rates have risen and the broader economic picture has seemed slightly less certain, the volume of criteria searches run by advisers is on the increase, according to the latest figures from Twenty7tec.
Twenty7tec analysed the data for May 2023 and found that the top three most popular criteria account for around 25% of all criteria searches:
1. Can applications from non-EU, EEA non-UK foreign nationals be accepted and under what conditions?
2. Is an application for joint borrowers, where only one will be the legal owner, acceptable and under what circumstances?
3. Can applicants with satisfied defaults be considered and what is acceptable?
The figures also show that the total top 20 criteria searches by volume are up 68% compared to May 2022 and are up 316% compared to May 2021.
The largest rise over the past two years has been for “can applicants with satisfied defaults be considered and what is acceptable?” which has risen 389.23%.
Criteria searches for maximum age at the end of the mortgage term are up 355% compared to two years ago.
Nathan Reilly, director at Twenty7tec, commented: “Reviewing criteria as part of a mortgage search can save housebuyers and their advisers a lot of time and ensure better disclosure of personal financial circumstances.
“We expect that criteria search volumes on our Velocity platform will continue to rise significantly over the next year. We’ve seen a huge uplift in the number of advisers coming to training sessions recently as they seek to get to grips with the volume of daily mortgage searches and ESIS documents they process. Being efficient has probably never been more important for mortgage advisers, and we’re proud to play our part in shaving off minutes and hours in the selecting a product for each client.”
