Legal & General Mortgage Club has revealed the top searches from its SmartrCriteria tool in September, with strong activity in the private rented sector leading to 23% growth in searches for ‘let-to-buy’ since August.

Analysis from the tool, which tracks product searches from over 8,000 advisers, showed mortgage criteria searches remained consistent from August to September despite market volatility, said Legal & General.

Searches on behalf of landlords using gifted equity climbed by 32%, while those for portfolio landlords grew by 18% in the same period. Similarly, searches for HMO mortgages grew by 53%, while criteria searches for top slicing saw a 6% rise.

Elsewhere, criteria searches that consider a property’s energy performance certificate (EPC) climbed by 16%, which Legal and General attributes to a growth in awareness around the potential savings afforded by an energy-efficient home.

The data also revealed that searches for homeowners keen to remortgage after just six months rose by 15%. This coincided with the Bank of England’s seventh consecutive base rate rise on 22 September, suggesting some borrowers may have looked to lock into new deals ahead of further rate rises.

Meanwhile, there was a 24% increase in searches for retirement interest-only (RIO) mortgages. In addition, criteria searches on behalf of buyers with missed mortgage payments increased by 11%.

Clare Beardmore, director of Legal & General Mortgage Club, said the consistency in the number of searches from August to September was promising, despite various economic hurdles.

“However,” she added, “though the volume may be similar, the type of searches show that the market is changing.

“September saw another large uptick in remortgage activity, as many five-year fixes came to an end. Anecdotally, it also seems that many homeowners are looking to remortgage and lock into a new deal as soon as possible, rather than wait until their current deal ends, driving activity levels further. It’s clear that the market is moving very quickly.”