Legal & General’s SmartrCriteria tool saw its busiest month on record in January as searches increased by 69% on December.

Searches for residential products made up 76.3% of the overall total, showing strong demand from owner-occupiers.

However, January also saw a significant increase in enquiries about furlough friendly mortgages, with searches rising 230% between December 2020 and January 2021. The increase follows a similar rise in November 2020 and means that mortgages for furloughed borrowers became the most frequently searched criteria on the tool.

Clare Beardmore, head of mortgage transformation and operations at Legal & General Mortgage Club, said: “Our latest data paints a promising picture for the mortgage market. Clearly, many people are continuing to press ahead with their homeownership ambitions and in many cases advisers are successfully matching them with the mortgage products they need to step onto and up the property ladder.

However, while the total volume of activity rose in January, we’re continuing to see strong demand among consumers for furlough friendly mortgage products. While this isn’t altogether surprising given the effects of lockdowns over the past year, it’s yet another sign that thousands more borrowers with complex circumstances will need the support of advisers to help them find suitable mortgage options in the months ahead.

“At Legal & General Mortgage Club, our ambition is to continue developing tools like SmartrCriteria which support intermediaries with their product decision making. We believe that tools like these can ultimately improve operational efficiency and ensure borrowers with diverse needs have access to the best products for their circumstances. We are committed to improving advisers’ workflow through our technology, and our criteria search tools are continually under development to help us achieve this.”

SmartrCriteria was launched by Legal & General on January 14, 2019 and has over 8000 registered advisers.