April’s results from the monthly Knowledge Bank tracker of criteria searches show that across the residential, buy-to-let, second-charge, and bridging markets, ‘Covid-19: Temporary Maximum LTV Restrictions’ was the most frequent search.

In the residential category, the top three searches in April were all clearly Covid-19-related. In addition to LTV restrictions, brokers also searched in large numbers for ‘Internal / AVM / Desktop Valuations’, which also came in at number two in the buy-to-let category, and ‘Covid-19: Furloughed Workers’.

In the equity release category, ‘Minimum Age at Application’ topped the list of broker searches – whereas in February, it had been ‘Maximum Age’ that had attracted most searches. Searches for ‘Add Fees to Loan’ came in as another new entrant at number three on the list, suggesting that people are looking to maximise the upfront cash they can extract.

Matthew Corker (pictured), Knowledge Bank’s lender relationship manager, said: “With lenders across the board cutting back sharply on loan-to-value, and in some cases temporarily withdrawing from the market, brokers are working harder than ever to keep track of an ever-changing landscape and get the best deals for their clients.

“We’ve had just short of 2,000 brokers sign up to Knowledge Bank’s free Covid-19 ‘live feed’, updated in real time by lenders. With events moving so fast, it is vital that brokers use all the means and the technology at their disposal to keep pace with what is happening in the market.”