The online tool, which was launched in January, allows intermediaries to make affordability calculations for those lenders who assess clients this way, rather than by using traditional income multiples.
An increasing number of lenders have switched to using affordability calculations and the network believed the directory would help brokers get the best deal for their client.
Dev Malle, sales director at Pink Home Loans, commented: “Feedback from our customers confirms anything that makes it easier to provide a slick service for their client will add value. We received very positive feedback when we launched the key facts illustration (KFI) directory and then the lender registration directory and we are delighted that, since its launch in January, the number of people using the facility has increased by 58 per cent. We hope to see this figure continue to rise.”
The directory informs brokers which lenders offer affordability calculations and then either sends them to the income calculator directly or tells them how to make the calculation.
Nick Triniman, managing director at The Mortgage Marketplace, said: “We have to look with increasing frequency to affordability lenders to help out clients. To have links to all the calculators in once place ensures that our consultants are able to provide correct data from a number of sources without having to trawl each site separately.”
However, the increasing use of affordability based lending has a good and bad side for Michael Brill, director at Baronworth Investment Services.
He said: There is a good side in that using affordability can help you get a slightly higher mortgage. However, we are all in the dark over how it works as it’s down to the computer. I may do a check but if the computer does things differently then I might not be able to recommend that product to the client.”
