"These changes respond directly to broker feedback, creating a proposition for exactly these clients. This is about giving them the flexibility and personal approach they need to secure the right home for their future"
- Emma Graham - Hodge
Hodge has added new 95% loan-to-value (LTV) mortgage products to its Resi and Resi Retire ranges, aimed at supporting customers aged 21 with varied income types and smaller deposits.
The move is part of the lender’s “lifelong lending” approach, which integrates core residential and retirement propositions to focus on lending based on a customer’s aspirations rather than their age.
The enhancements target a growing customer segment that is often underserved by mainstream lenders, such as high-earning professionals with limited deposits, older first-time buyers, and second-steppers experiencing life changes, including divorce.
To qualify for Hodge’s 95% LTV products, applicants must have a strong credit profile. Borrowing of up to 5x loan-to-income (LTI) will be considered, with 100% of all income taken into account. Customers can apply from the age of 21, and earned income is accepted up to the age of 80. Loan terms of up to 40 years are available, which Hodge says can help maximise affordability and enable borrowers to secure their preferred property.
The lender’s focus is on applicants with unique circumstances, with underwriting carried out on a case-by-case basis. This approach, it says, removes unnecessary restrictions and allows for more tailored affordability assessments.
Emma Graham, Business Development Director at Hodge (pictured), said: “Today’s borrowers are getting on the property ladder later and expect more from their first mortgage. Many have strong incomes and career potential but lack a large deposit or have income structures that don’t fit the high-street mould.
“These changes respond directly to broker feedback, creating a proposition for exactly these clients. This is about giving them the flexibility and personal approach they need to secure the right home for their future.”
Hodge said the move follows a rise in broker enquiries from clients in their 30s and 40s seeking family homes in desirable areas, often without financial support from relatives.
By recognising complex income and applying what it calls a “common sense” approach to underwriting, the lender says its lower-deposit options provide high-quality borrowers with broader access to mortgage finance.
