New research conducted by Yorkshire Building Society and yourmortgage.co.uk has revealed that 95 per cent of people looking for a mortgage will use the internet at some stage, with one in five prepared to complete the full mortgage online.

When asked about the future a massive 79 per cent said that they would consider applying for a mortgage online.

With hundreds of mortgage products to choose from, internet search engines are the most popular way for people to find mortgage sites, although mortgage advertising and newspaper recommendations is how a further quarter of mortgage-hunters choose the sites they visit.

Once on the internet, 27 per cent of people looking for a mortgage will only use it for research, while a further 39 per cent said they would proceed as far as getting a quote.

Interestingly borrowers who already have a mortgage are more likely to use the internet for research and quotes, but are less likely to apply for an online mortgage than first time buyers.

The research also provided evidence that both first time buyers and people who already have a mortgage understand that the mortgage application process can be lengthy with almost three out of four respondents expecting to spend an hour at their computer completing the process.

Of the respondents who were happy to proceed with an online mortgage application, 70 per cent wanted to be able to monitor the progress of their application online, with 52 per cent valuing email updates.

Over half said they would appreciate being able to talk to an individual about their online mortgage, either in a local branch or through a call centre, rather than completing the whole process without speaking to a human being.