Specialist lender, Fleet Mortgages, has announced a further series of criteria enhancements designed to support a wider range of landlord borrowers and limited company structures.
The latest changes form part of Fleet's ongoing review of its lending criteria, coupled with adviser feedback, and are aimed at helping advisers place more business with the lender.
Among the headline changes, Fleet has broadened its buy-to-let lending criteria to support a wider range of borrowers. The lender will now consider joint applications involving foreign nationals where at least one applicant is a British passport holder, has indefinite leave to remain or settled status.
Additional applicants may be accepted with eligible visas, provided they have lived in the UK for at least three years and have a minimum of 12 months remaining on their visa. Accepted visa categories include:
- Skilled Worker
- Family/Spousal
- UK Ancestry
- Health and Care Worker
- British National (Overseas)
- Intra-Company Transfer
- EU Settlement Scheme
Fleet has also expanded its limited company lending criteria and will now accept company group structures registered anywhere in the UK, including Scotland and Northern Ireland, whereas previously companies were required to be registered in England and Wales.
Fleet said the change reflected its willingness to lend to UK-incorporated special purpose vehicles, though the security property must still be located in England or Wales, with lending remaining subject to English law and legal protections.
These latest enhancements build on the significant package of criteria improvements Fleet introduced in March this year, which included:
- removing the minimum income requirement
- reducing the trading history needed for self-employed applicants and contractors from two years to one full tax year
- extending the maximum mortgage term from 30 to 35 years
- increasing the maximum LTV on new-build flats to 75%
- removing height restrictions on blocks of flats
- broadening acceptable property types and construction criteria
Fleet said these new changes, coupled with those from earlier in the year, were designed to improve landlord affordability, widen property choice and better reflect the realities of today's buy-to-let market. Full details of the criteria enhancements are available on Fleet Mortgages' website, alongside updated product guides and broker communications.
"The buy-to-let market continues to evolve, and we are ensuring our criteria evolves with it," said Steve Cox, chief commercial officer at Fleet Mortgages (pictured).
"While these latest enhancements are more targeted than the wider package of changes we introduced earlier this year, they address areas where advisers have told us greater flexibility will help them place more cases and support a broader range of landlord borrowers."
He added: "Whether it is recognising the growing number of joint applications involving foreign nationals, or widening our appetite for UK-incorporated limited company structures, we believe these are sensible changes that reflect how landlords are choosing to own and manage their portfolios today.
"As always, our focus has been on removing unnecessary barriers while maintaining the robust underwriting standards that advisers and their clients rightly expect from Fleet."
