Inform 20th October 2023

LATEST PARTNER BLOGS:

Bank Of Ireland
Earlier Deals For Existing Customers

Standard Life Home Finance
How Could Equity Release Impact Your Client’s Lives?

Royal London
A Huge Protection Opportunity For Adviser Firms?

Vitality
Unpacking Consumer Duty: What Do ‘Good Client Outcomes’ Look Like?

Read now

LV=

An update on our Lump Sum+ and Drawdown+ products

From Monday 30 October we are making a change to the lending criteria for our Lifetime Mortgage Lump Sum+ and Drawdown+ products:

The maximum age will be reduced from 95 to 84.

View our new lending policy.

Key dates

Use our Equity Release Portal to submit:

Outstanding quotes by 4pm on 27 October 2023.
Decisions in principle by midday on 9 November 2023.
Full applications by midday on 10 November 2023.

Once an application has been fully submitted it will be honoured for the period that your client’s valuation is valid.

Mansfield Building Society

Lending into retirement – Case Studies

Tom Denman-Molloy, Intermediary Sales Manager, Mansfield Building Society

At The Mansfield Building Society, we take a pragmatic approach when lending to borrowers in, or fast approaching, retirement.

With an ageing population, coupled with the increasing cost of property, the average age of the first time buyer is rising and a growing number of people are borrowing beyond normal retirement age.

We reflect this in our criteria with capital repayment and interest only mortgages available up to age 85 (maximum 70% LTV when repaid between age 70 and age 85). These case studies show how we’ve helped retired borrowers.

Purchasing a house to support son’s affordability

In order to support their son buying his first home, a couple were looking to take out a mortgage with him to purchase a property over a term of 15 years with the intention that the property would eventually be transferred to the son.

The couple were able to provide a 25% deposit meaning a loan was taken out on a capital repayment basis using the son’s PhD income to support the affordability assessment. With the oldest applicant aged 60, the Society was able to offer the three of them a mortgage, taking the oldest borrower to age 75 at the end of the term.

Remortgaging to interest only with property downsizing on a high value property

A married couple with the main applicant aged 70 were looking to remortgage in order to access the equity in their property during retirement. The aim was to provide a gifted deposit to their daughter so she could purchase a house. The loan was on an interest only basis with property downsizing as the repayment strategy.

With a term of 10 years, it made the main applicant aged 80 at the end of the mortgage. Our individual approach meant we were able to assess affordability, taking into consideration the borrowers’ pension income.

Home improvements and debt consolidation

A single borrower aged 60 at the time of application required a mortgage of £70,000 over a term of 20 years with a 25% LTV. After the repayment of the current mortgage the remaining funds were to be used to consolidate some unsecured debts and to carry out home improvements.

We assessed both the borrower’s employed income and expected income into retirement and calculated that affordability would improve, together with the borrowers financial circumstances and standard of living, once all sources of pension income were drawn and the unsecured debt consolidated.

A common sense approach

If you’ve got a case on your desk that requires a common sense approach to lending then please pick up the phone to our Broker Support team on 01623 676360 or visit https://www.mansfieldbs.co.uk/intermediaries/

Paymentshield

Say hello to the latest videos from Paymentshield

When purchasing insurance, technical jargon can be daunting and confusing so to help clear up any potential fog, Paymentshield have created a suite of customer facing videos that explain what each of their optional extras are and how they can be beneficial to your clients.

Each of the three videos, which are only around one minute long, explain the importance of having these additional extras in place alongside your client’s policy. They will showcase to your client under what circumstances can they claim with each policy, for example ‘what is classed as an emergency?’ and ‘what is covered under personal possessions?’

Personal Possessions
Legal Expenses
Home Emergency
Accidental Damage video coming November 2023

These videos focus more on the benefits of each product in general, as opposed to trying to sell Paymentshield’s specific optional extras, meaning they can be shown to your clients regardless of who their general insurance provider is.

You can find all these videos, along with a host of other videos and materials which can be shared with your clients on Paymentshield’s customer facing knowledge hub.

For advisers, Paymentshield have videos on Adviser Hub and how to get the most out of their different quoting methods. They also offer videos on their new referral system and a how to brand your documents by adding your contact details and logo to a selection of their marketing materials.

Vida Homeloans

Criteria enhancements across our entire range

We want to help you help more of your customers get life moving which is why we’ve extended our maximum mortgage term from 40 to 45 years and increased the maximum age we will lend from 70 to 80.

For full details on our new product range and our criteria enhancements visit our Broker News Feed.

We made a little video about our criteria enhancements. Click here to watch.

StrideUp

Gifted Deposits

Flexibility on gifted deposits will make a big difference to the next generation of homeowners. Read the full article here.

Buckinghamshire Building Society

New Product Launch: Impaired Credit

After months of rising costs and unsettled conditions across the market, it feels like things might just be calming down… at least for the moment!

Although this is great news, the reality of the ongoing cost of living crisis and regular increases in interest rates, has meant that we’re seeing more and more applicants with everything from minor credit blips like missed payments to more serious credit issues like Debt Management Plans.

Following a full review of our credit criteria and policy, we’ve made a number of positive changes.

The first of which is the launch of our 3-Year Fixed Bucks Solutions Impaired Product which is available now!

Key features include:

Maximum LTV 70%
Purchase or Remortgage
Loans available from £50,000 to £500,000
Other fees & T&Cs apply

We can consider applicants in a Debt Management Plan (DMP) that will either remain or be repaid on completion and applicants with a Discharged Bankruptcy or with an Individual Voluntary Agreement (IVA) that will be settled on completion, will also be considered on this product.

Click here to see our full range.

Precise Mortgages

Top slicing explained

Have you ever been in the position where a loan amount your landlord requires is not available because the property’s rental income doesn’t meet our minimum ICR requirement?

Did you know top slicing could offer a solution? Take a look at our top slicing explained one-pager to find out more.

To find out more, speak with your Business Development Manager , call our dedicated support team on 0800 116 4385 or use Live Chat .

Barclays

We are moving from hard to soft credit checks

Here at Barclays, our ongoing commitment to improving the broker experience continues – at pace – thanks to the valuable feedback received from our intermediary partners.

These insights enable us to focus our attention on solving the issues that matter in your day-to-day lives and across your business.

So, what’s next in our strategic change plan?

We’re pleased to announce that we’ve totally revamped the way we complete our Decision in Principle by moving from hard to soft credit checks.

This means that all applications will now go through a soft credit check at the initial Decision in Principle stage rather than a hard credit check, as was formerly the case.

This enhancement will help to improve the customer experience when applying for a new mortgage application with Barclays as it will provide you and your clients with an accurate lending decision at initial stage without impacting the customers credit file.
This is a change which also brings us in line with other tier one lenders across the industry.

What happens now?

You don’t have to do a thing; these changes have been automatically applied to the system.

Please note that a hard credit check will still be conducted on submission of the mortgage application and recorded on the customers credit file.

Halifax Intermediaries

Self-employed income calculation changes

From, Tuesday 17th October, the amount of income used in our affordability calculation for all self-employed applications will be the latest year or the average of the last two years, whichever is lower.

This is a change for applications where the self-employed income is up to £50,000 in the ‘previous year’ and applies to new applications started from Tuesday 17 October. If an application was started before Tuesday 17 October, including where just a Decision In Principle (DIP) was keyed, the income calculation will not change, i.e., it will be the lower of the last two years.

We continue to adapt our approach in response to broker feedback and the market to ensure we support customers while lending responsibly. The alignment of the approach enhances affordability for self-employed applicants on lower incomes.

As a reminder, the latest Tax Calculations and Tax Year Overviews for any new applications must now be for tax year 2022 / 2023.

There are no other changes to self-employed income criteria or verification.

Where a business has been trading for one full year, but less than two years, an application can be considered.

Our website Criteria page, which has more details on self-employed incomes, will be updated from Tuesday 17 October.

Manor Mortgages

Semi-Exclusive: Large HMOs, Holiday Lets & Semi-Commercial Properties

Manor Mortgages has exclusive access to Foundation Home Loans’ new F2 Extra Product Range, designed for those niche cases that aren’t typically catered for in the Specialist BTL market.

All products can cater for up to 4 individuals on one application, LLC & LLP acceptable, and First Time Landlords considered.

Extra Large HMO

Large HMO’s, 9+ bedrooms
Max loan £1.5 million & 65% LTV
Rental income over £100k acceptable on a common law tenancy
Expat options available

Semi-Commercial

Residential valuation and rental income must be in excess of 60% of the total property
Max Loan £3 million & 70% LTV
Rental income over £100k acceptable on common law tenancy
Expat options available
7 & 10 year fixed rates available with 1% fee

Holiday Lets

Using High, Medium, Low rental figures – average over 39 weeks
Max loan £3 million & 70% LTV
ICR at 125%
Expat option available
7 & 10 year fixed rates available with 1% fee

Large Portfolio

For aggregate borrowing with Foundation Home Loans above £5m
Max loan £2 million per application
Rental income over £100k acceptable on a common law tenancy

Large Loans

Max Loans of £5 million up to 60% LTV
Max loans of £3 million up to 70% LTV
BTL, HMO (up to 6 occupants), and standard Short Let Term (Using AST)

Why use Manor?

We have direct access to key decision-makers allowing us to present cases with a high success rate
We pay your proc fee within 48 hours of completion
We offer Three Tiers of Service, designed to suit your specific needs
Our expert Legal Manager will see your case through to completion – plus you get £100 commission when using our Panel solicitors

Have a query? Use our quick enquiry form!

Reliance Bank Ltd

NEW Key Worker Product Launch

Reliance Bank Ltd are excited to announce the launch of 2 new Key Worker Mortgage Products to both the Intermediary market and Direct Channel.

The Key updates are as follows:

These products are up to a maximum 75% LTV
All applications on the above products must complete by no later than 31^st March 2024
We have maintained the £850 cash back offer on Key Worker Range. This Cash back incentive amount is paid within 60 days of the date that the mortgage completes with Reliance Bank Ltd
Key Worker Mortgage products can be used for First Time Buyers / Home movers / Remortgage Cases
Reminder that at least one applicant must belong to one of our qualifying occupations – please refer to attached occupation list for further details
Product Fees – these can be added to the loan or paid upfront – Please note we will not allow LTV limits to be exceeded when product fee has been added to the loan

Cirencester Friendly

We are increasing our Underwriting Limits

Following market feedback and our commitment to improving our proposition, we are delighted to announce that from tomorrow we will have increased our automatic Underwriting Limits.

What does this mean for advisers and their clients…

This increase has changed the automatic medical evidence¹ we need from clients.

In comparison to our previous limits, we’ve increased these by 99% for those aged 40 – 50 and a 75% increase for those aged 51 and above.

These increases will help to speed up applications and allow more to go straight through processing. Once questions are completed correctly and in full, advisers and their clients will be able to get a decision at point of sale².

Victoria will be in touch with her Marketing contacts to ensure any information / content on your website is updated and to utilise channels available to us to get the message out to your adviser community and we’ll also be communicating with any advisers registered with us and opted into marketing communications.

For more information please refer to our Underwriting Guide Our-guide-to-Underwriting.pdf (cirencester-friendly.co.uk)

¹The only evidence we request for automatic medical evidence is a medical screening

² Subject to other Underwriting disclosures

The Mortgage Works

Portfolio landlord criteria updates

From, Tuesday 17th October, we’ve made some positive changes to our existing portfolio affordability assessment:

Maximum LTV increased to 75% from 65% for portfolios with 11 or more properties
Stress rate reduced to 5.00% from 5.25%
Increased the aggregate portfolio LTV to 75% where Nationwide BTL exposure is over £1m.

These improvements follow on from the rate reductions we made to our Large Portfolio range last week. Together they continue to demonstrate our commitment to your portfolio landlord clients.

For full details please visit our website.

Nationwide Intermediary

We’ve changed. Or have we?

There’s no denying that we look different – but at our heart, we haven’t changed. Our commitment to you and your clients is as strong today as it’s always been.