As I was scanning the Financial Reporter news section on the countdown to Christmas, I came across a pull quote in one article which immediately grabbed my attention. This read "If anyone in the mortgage market was hoping for a period of product and criteria stability then I'm afraid they will have to wait a bit longer."

This came from Knowledge Bank’s CEO Nicola Firth on the back of its monthly criteria index which revealed that the year looked set to end as it started with a vast number of criteria changes across the whole range of product categories.

During November, lenders continued to react to rising interest rates and although products continued to be withdrawn and re-priced on a daily basis, it was lending criteria that witnessed the greatest changes. From a residential perspective, searches for lenders accepting self-employed borrowers with just one year’s accounts rose to second in the charts. Other changes saw the search for interest-only loans rising to third and the search for lenders accepting missed or late payments dropping from third to fifth place in the charts.

The buy-to-let sector followed the trend with a raft of criteria changes that saw the search for first-time landlords the most popular search over the month. The search term of lending to limited companies was knocked off the top spot for the first time in six months.

The most popular search in the secured loan sector was once again for the maximum loan-to-value as borrowers looked to squeeze the maximum out of lenders. The rest of the top places were taken up by the maximum age, minimum and maximum loan amount and lenders who will allow capital raising for debt consolidation.

It will come as no surprise to hear that a raft of product and criteria changes are expected to continue, at pace, in the early part of 2023. As an industry, we are still emerging from a transitional period in which lenders across all sectors had to carefully assess their product ranges after being forced to repackage, reprice and reassess their exposure on the back of a hugely turbulent economic climate.

Thankfully, we appear to be benefitting from some wider economic stability but high levels of inflation, energy prices and a rising Bank of England base rate are placing increased financial pressure on a huge number of households, all with a variety of present and future borrowing needs.

So, as we enter 2023, whilst lending conditions have certainly become more stable, challenges remain for many borrowers from an affordability standpoint and for intermediaries when it comes to keeping track of the constant barrage of change. Even though it’s encouraging to see that lenders appear to be maintaining a positive pricing trend.

This all suggests that an even greater proportion of borrowers will need access to good, professional advice and, as complexity levels rise across the mortgage market, advisers will need to undertake an even more comprehensive review of their clients’ circumstances. And this will place an increased emphasis on the support provided by mortgage clubs and networks to ensure that all advisers can deliver the right solutions to meet their clients’ shifting needs over the course of 2023.