Changes include reduced rates and enhanced criteria
LiveMore and Hodge have both announced significant changes to their mortgage offerings, aiming to support older borrowers and those with diverse income streams.
LiveMore, a mortgage lender specialising in products for people aged 50 to 90-plus, has reduced rates on its retirement interest-only (RIO) and standard mortgages until the end of July.
The reductions apply across standard capital and interest, standard interest-only, and RIO products, including the ‘Up to 100% Debt Consolidation’ product, but exclude lifetime (equity release) mortgages.
Specific changes include a reduction of 50 basis points (bps) on a LiveMore1 two-year fixed RIO mortgage and a 10bps cut on all other RIO products. Standard mortgages will see a 20bps reduction across all offerings. Customers can now secure a five-year fixed standard term product at 5.64%, a five-year fixed RIO mortgage at 5.89%, or a fixed for life rate at 6.39%.
“While the cost of living has levelled off a bit, many borrowers aged 50 to 90-plus are still coming to terms with the higher costs of living,” said Les Pick (pictured left), director of intermediary sales at LiveMore. “We hope that these rate reductions support our customers through these challenging times and help them with their future goals.”
Meanwhile, Hodge has adjusted the criteria for its 50-plus and RIO mortgage products to accommodate borrowers with variable earnings.
The specialist lender now accepts 100% of non-contractual income streams, such as commissions, bonuses, and overtime. Affordability for fixed-term contractors will be assessed on 48 weeks’ pay, up from 46, and there are no minimum income requirements for experienced contractors.
Additionally, the accepted gap between contracts has been increased from six weeks to three months. Retained profits and a day-one day rate will also be accepted for 50-plus and RIO applications.
The changes extend Hodge’s criteria across its 50-plus and RIO mortgage ranges, following the launch of its professional mortgage product.
“Hodge has been steadily developing its range of lending products over a number of years to help give more professionals with less conventional earning patterns enhanced borrowing power,” said Emma Graham (pictured right), business development director at Hodge. “This is not always possible on the high street.
“We have been assessing cases where diverse and variable income streams are involved for some time and have built a strong reputation as a market leader in specialist lending.”
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