Nottingham Building Society is now accepting concessionary purchases from landlords, allowing private landlords to sell directly to existing tenants at a discounted price as part of a broader update to its lending criteria.
The mortgages and savings mutual has also expanded its lending to cover ex-local authority flats at up to 85% loan-to-value (LTV), across both residential and buy-to-let. The society estimates around one million such properties exist across the UK, yet lending support for the sector has remained patchy. The new policy widens access for first-time buyers and landlords alike.
Two further deposit changes accompany the update. Housebuilder gifted deposits are now accepted on new-build properties, provided the borrower matches the gift with their own funds. Self-employed applicants can also use the repayment of a director's loan as a deposit source, where the repayment is fully evidenced.
"These are changes rooted in what we're hearing every day from brokers," said Matt Kingston, sales director at Nottingham Building Society. "Ex-local authority flats form a huge part of the UK's housing stock, yet support for them remains patchy. Landlords are increasingly selling directly to tenants. Self-employed customers are relying more on legitimate capital flows. And new-build purchases can be made possible only when housebuilders step in to help with deposits."
"None of these are niche scenarios. They are the reality of today's property market," he continued. "Our role as a modern and specialist mutual is to respond to real-world circumstances with clarity and common sense. By expanding our criteria in these four areas, we're removing unnecessary barriers, strengthening viable routes into homeownership, and giving brokers more confidence when placing cases that fall outside a narrow definition of 'standard'."
The latest changes follow earlier updates this year, including recognition of confirmed future income, simplified routes for self-employed applicants, higher maximum LTVs on new-build flats, and the removal of LTV caps on lending into retirement. Nottingham also recently broadened its acceptable income types across residential, foreign national, returning expat and retirement interest-only ranges, covering agency and zero-hours work, certain state benefits, and drawdown pensions.
"We're building meaningful momentum through 2026," Kingston added, "and these enhancements are another step in ensuring our lending reflects the way people actually move, work and save today."
