One enhances lending criteria; three others slash interest rates
Loughborough Building Society, United Trust Bank (UTB), Zephyr Homeloans, and Vida have all announced significant updates to their mortgage and lending products, aimed at enhancing offerings and providing more competitive options for intermediaries and borrowers.
Loughborough Building Society has improved its lending criteria for retirement applicants by increasing its income assessment multiple from 3.5 to 4.5 times an applicant’s income up to their retirement age.
Applicants can now borrow more based on their pension income, and if deemed affordable at retirement, the mortgage can extend beyond age 80 without additional reassessments. For those already aged 80 or over, the income multiple remains at 3.5 times.
“The later life lending sector is rapidly evolving as the lifestyles and financial needs of those aged 50 and over change, at pace,” said Ashley Pearson (pictured far left), head of intermediaries at Loughborough Building Society. “This positive criteria change will enable our intermediary partners to provide a more personalised and accommodating lending experience for later life borrowers.”
Meanwhile, United Trust Bank has reduced interest rates across its regulated and unregulated bridging finance products.
Regulated bridging loans now start at 0.64% per month for loans between £1.5 million and £5 million, while unregulated loans are available from 0.72% per month for similar loan sizes.
“Our products still benefit from our Fast track process for applicable cases, and brokers can also benefit from our online portal when making case submissions and creating DIPs,” said Sundeep Patel (pictured second from left), director of bridging at United Trust Bank said.
In a similar development, Zephyr Homeloans has cut rates on its two- and five-year fixed buy-to-let products by up to 0.15% for loans up to 75% loan-to-value (LTV).
The lender is also offering preferential rates for properties with energy performance certificates (EPC) rated ‘A’ to ‘C’. For these properties, rates start at 3.44% for a two-year fixed deal up to 65% LTV, and 4.59% for a five-year fixed. For properties with lower EPC ratings, rates are slightly higher.
<iframe src="https://www.linkedin.com/embed/feed/update/urn:li:share:7238832724403265537" height="941" width="504" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" title="Embedded post"></iframe>
Zephyr has also introduced a 0% product fee option on two-year mortgages, providing more choice for landlords.
“We’re continuing to offer reduced rates to our brokers to enable them to provide a greater range of options for their landlord customers,” said Paul Fryers (pictured second from right), managing director at Zephyr Homeloans.
Specialist lender Vida has also lowered rates across its residential and buy-to-let ranges, with reductions of up to 0.30%.
The lender’s most competitive residential product now stands at 6.24% for borrowers on its Vida 36 credit tier at 75% LTV, while its cheapest buy-to-let option is 5.01%. The rate cuts include Vida’s recently launched 90% LTV two-year fixed limited edition product, aimed at first-time buyers.
“Due to rates falling in the market meaning lower funding costs, we’re pleased to be able to pass on yet more reductions to our intermediary partners and customers,” said Helen Cawthra (pictured far right), head of intermediary relationships at Vida. “Brokers should take a look at our Product Switch Hub should have they have any customers coming to the end of their deal looking for a new product or potentially cheaper rate.”
Want to be regularly updated with mortgage news and features? Get exclusive interviews, breaking news, and industry events in your inbox – subscribe to our FREE daily newsletter. You can also follow us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and LinkedIn.
