"These two changes to our criteria, which offer different ways for borrowers to expand their borrowing potential, show how we’re building on every opportunity to make it possible for more people to access the size of mortgage they need"
- Jeremy Duncombe - Accord Mortgages
Accord Mortgages has announced that it has removed the minimum income requirement for first-time buyers seeking mortgages up to 5.5 times their income, as long as all other lending and affordability criteria are met.
The change, effective immediately, applies across the lender’s intermediary-only product range, excluding the £5k Deposit Mortgage.
Key points of the update include:
For joint applications, at least one applicant must be a first-time buyer
Maximum 95% loan-to-value (LTV)
Available for new-build properties, including flats
Includes products in the Boost LTI range
Applicants must meet all other lending and affordability criteria
Applies to new applications only
Not applicable to the £5k Deposit Mortgage
Accord is also simplifying its joint borrower, sole proprietor (JBSP) criteria, which allow family members’ earnings to be included when assessing how much a borrower can afford. The changes increase accessibility to JBSP arrangements up to 95% LTV and remove the previous limit, restricting only 25% of the mortgage term to run into the assisting family member’s retirement.
“These changes mark our latest moves to support more borrowers in achieving their home-ownership goals,” said Jeremy Duncombe, managing director of Accord Mortgages. “We were among the first lenders to respond to the greater flexibility the regulator gave us to set our own higher loan-to-income lending limits, a change we had long called for."
“At the time, we underlined our commitment to enhancing our support for borrowers in achieving their homeownership aspirations, and we are delivering on that."
“These two changes to our criteria, which offer different ways for borrowers to expand their borrowing potential, show how we’re building on every opportunity to make it possible for more people to access the size of mortgage they need.”
Following the regulator’s announcement in the summer, Accord also lowered the minimum income threshold for its Boost LTI range from £75,000 to £50,000 and extended the £5k Deposit Mortgage eligibility to include flats.
