"Adding the £1,995 fee tier allows us to provide products which will hold particular appeal for those who prioritise keeping the monthly repayments as low as possible, as well as those with larger loan amounts"
- Richard Harrison - Atom bank
Atom bank has announced that it has expanded its Near Prime product range by introducing a new £1,995 fee tier for two-year fixed rate mortgages, with rates starting at 4.94%.
Available from today, Thursday 13 November, the new products offer loan-to-values of up to 90%. The addition follows the launch of the £1,500 fee tier in July, further extending the bank’s range of options for borrowers with imperfect credit histories.
According to Atom bank, the introduction of the higher fee tier offers brokers and clients a wider choice of competitively priced products. The success of the earlier £1,500 fee tier demonstrated strong demand from brokers for greater flexibility when assisting clients with non-standard credit profiles.
Enhancing options for Near Prime borrowers
Over the past 18 months, Atom bank has made a series of enhancements to its Near Prime range in response to broker feedback. These have included:
Increasing the maximum LTV to 90%
Broadening acceptable levels of defaults
Introducing multiple rate reductions
These updates have helped the bank achieve record levels of Near Prime activity during 2025.
The lender also recently published its first Near Prime Index, a biannual report combining market research, economic analysis, and broker insights. The H1 2025 edition underlined the importance of borrower education around behaviours that can lead to Near Prime classification.
Brokers surveyed for the Index called for lenders to evaluate each case individually rather than using a single set of criteria for applicants with past credit issues.
“Near Prime is becoming an increasingly important option for brokers who are seeing more clients with some sort of historical credit blip,” said Richard Harrison, head of mortgages at Atom bank. “These credit issues are often one-offs, yet they can have a long-lasting impact on a borrower’s prospects. That’s why it’s so important for brokers to have a wide range of options to choose from.
“Adding the £1,995 fee tier allows us to provide products which will hold particular appeal for those who prioritise keeping the monthly repayments as low as possible, as well as those with larger loan amounts. There can be misconceptions about what Near Prime borrowers look like, but as our Near Prime Index highlighted, nearly a third of our cases involve households with incomes above £75,000, and so may be looking to raise bigger sums.
“The Near Prime Index made clear that this is an area of the market set to grow in the years ahead. Lenders need to be nimble in not only providing competitive products, but also ensuring their assessments are based on each borrower’s specific circumstances. Brokers have had enough of lenders’ ‘computer says no’ excuses for turning down applicants who are more than capable of repaying a mortgage.”
