More than one in four mortgage applicants are now hunting for deals above 90% loan to value – a jump of 8% in the last year.

The claim, from the Mortgage Advice Bureau, could fuel concerns about responsible lending ahead of mortgage reforms being implemented this Saturday, while also highlighting the role of Help to Buy.

MAB has taken its data using over 175,000 mortgages searches carried out online on 150 different websites including its own and comparison sites.

The latest data shows a shift in consumer behaviour over the last year as the availability of high LTV mortgages has improved.

In the 12 months to March 2013, fewer than one in five mortgage seekers (19%) were looking for loans above 90% LTV.

That figure has since leapt to 27% over the 12 months to March 2014, peaking at 29% in Q4 2013 when the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme, available on both new and secondhand homes, launched.

At the opposite end of the scale, the proportion  of mortgage seekers looking for deals up to 60% LTV has dropped from 33% to 23% over the same period.

The general trend over the last 12 months, says MAB, has been for consumers to seek slightly larger loans (averaging £142,375 against £139,990 in the 12 months to March 2013, a 2% rise) on cheaper properties (averaging £203,244 against £213,462, a fall of 5%).

Brian Murphy, head of lending at MAB, said: “The last 12 months have seen consumer faith restored in the mortgage market.

“The Government and lenders have clearly responded to a generational need by offering better options for buyers with relatively small deposits.

“Lower earners are plucking up the courage to explore their options, and a lot of borrowing interest is coming from consumers with modest ambitions of buying a home, rather than top-end investors chasing a profit from property.

“New regulations will support efforts to ensure responsible lending. The changes are getting a lot of attention, but it is important to get the message across that the mortgage market is very much open for business to buyers who can manage their repayments.”