Legal & General’s SmartrCriteria tool tracked a record number of searches last month after volumes jumped 17% between February and March. However, while overall activity continued to increase, the proportion of searches for borrowers with financial complications, such as credit impairments, continued to rise.
11 May 2021
SmartrCriteria also tracked a 40% uplift in searches for lenders willing to consider borrowers with previous repayment defaults.
Activity in the housing market continued to increase in March, with Legal & General Mortgage Club’s SmartrCriteria tool tracking a record number of searches after volumes jumped by 17% compared to the previous month. This follows HMRC’s latest property transaction data which revealed that residential transactions doubled year on year in March 2021.
However, while activity volumes reached new heights, data from SmartrCriteria searches showed an increase in searches for borrowers with financial complications, such as credit impairments, furloughed income, or multi-stream income. This is reflective of the continued impact of the pandemic in complicating borrowers’ personal finances.
SmartrCriteria’s most searched criteria point last month related to mortgages suited to borrowers with a satisfied default, indicating that many borrowers have retrospectively settled missed payments recently. These searches increased by over 40% between February and March whilst searches for borrowers with outstanding missed payments (unsatisfied defaults) also jumped by 28%.
Similarly, demand for furlough-friendly mortgages remained high and, despite overall volumes having dipped by just over 9%, this was advisers’ second most searched criteria point in March. Furthermore, searches for applicants with a second job increased by 51% last month, a further indication of financial strain on customers.
SmartrCriteria was launched by Legal & General in 2019 and has over 8000 registered advisers, around a third of the intermediary market. The service is free to use, regardless of whether an adviser is a Club member or not.
Clare Beardmore, Head of Mortgage Transformation and Operations, Legal & General Mortgage Club: "While it is clear that various government incentives are driving many to push ahead with their homeownership plans, the rising number of searches for lenders who will accept applicants with credit impairments and multiple income streams shows that the economic impact of the crisis continues to be felt by many. While activity in the housing market may be high, advisers are increasingly needing powerful tools to help them progress complex cases.Our sourcing technology continues to be an ally to intermediaries, helping them match clients with lenders no matter their borrowing needs. We remain committed to introducing further improvements to the proposition and look forward to delivering additional product enhancements to help intermediaries through this current busy period and beyond."
Established in 1836, Legal & General is one of the UK's leading financial services groups and a major global investor, with £1.2 trillion in total assets under management1 of which 40% is international. We have a unique and highly synergistic business model, which continues to drive strong returns. Legal & General provides powerful asset origination and management capabilities directly to clients, which also underpin our leading retirement and protection solutions. We are a leading international player in Pension Risk Transfer, in UK and US life insurance, and in UK workplace pensions and retirement income. Our purpose is to improve the lives of our customers and create value for our shareholders. Through inclusive capitalism, we are investing in long-term assets, such as real estate and infrastructure, that can help build a better society for the future.
1Data as at 31 December 2023.
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*at 31 Jun 2021