Criteria Hub, the self-styled ‘deep search’ criteria engine, is the provide John Charcol’s DA and AR advisers with access to its platform.

John Charcol advisers will now have full access to Criteria Hub’s platform, which will allow them to interrogate the Criteria Hub database on all kinds of specific criteria questions without having to visit multiple lender websites and make phone calls to lender helpdesks and BDMs.

Criteria Hub’s director, Jason Hegarty, said: “John Charcol is one of the premier mortgage brokers in the UK, so we are particularly delighted that they have chosen Criteria Hub to help their advisers.

“Our whole ethos is built around developing a platform that genuinely helps advisers to save time and effort in researching specific detail that can make or break a mortgage application.

“Providing the right mortgage advice in today’s busy market means lender criteria research is of paramount importance, particularly with the increasing number and complexity of products.

“Criteria Hub provides over 20,000 detailed pieces of criteria in one place with the kind of accurate fine detail that advisers need to save them time, as well as providing evidence of the research undertaken to back up final recommendations.”

Ray Boulger, senior mortgage technical manager at John Charcol, added: “Up to now our technical team has maintained a spreadsheet for our advisers, showing key criteria details of different lenders. However, Criteria Hub takes the provision of this type of detailed criteria information to a whole new level.

“As a whole of market broker, it is essential for our consultants to be able to check lenders’ criteria quickly, with confidence that the information is accurate. Criteria Hub provides many ways to search, from the complete criteria of a specific lender to a comparison of which lenders can meet multiple criteria requirements.

“Not only will Criteria Hub provide an instant answer to some very detailed criteria questions, but it will also begin to reduce the pressure on the John Charcol technical team to maintain our own in-house provision of criteria detail. These considerable time savings will allow the technical team to focus more time on finding a home for the even more complex cases.

“The choice of which lender to recommend will remain with the adviser, who will be able to factor into the advice soft facts and the client’s preferences. However, Criteria Hub offers a very high level of transparency with a search based on the specific client and the security circumstances. From a compliance perspective this provides an excellent way of fine tuning which lenders could be considered in the real world.”