"Combined with a 40-year term and reductions on both our fixed products, more affordable mortgages for first-time borrowers have arrived."
- Louise Thorpe, chief customer officer at Darlington
Darlington Building Society has overhauled its mortgage proposition with several key improvements, including a new 95% LTV visa mortgage and criteria enhancements for first-time buyers and buy-to-let borrowers.
For its new visa mortgage offering, a five-year fixed rate is available at 5.49% and a two-year fix at 5.89%, alongside enhanced criteria. There’s no minimum income requirement up to 90% LTV and a £60,000 minimum at 95% LTV (£90,000 minimum income for joint applications).
The Society’s ‘credit search not credit score’ approach will help more people who have just started working in the UK on a Tier 2 visa, as there’s no minimum time in the UK required. At the other end of the scale, skilled workers can apply with as little as two years remaining on their visa.
In addition, spousal visa income is now accepted if the joint applicant has indefinite leave to remain, an applicable visa, or is a British national.
For first-time buyers, the Society has introduced lower rates and smaller deposits, alongside new 40 year terms for lower monthly mortgage repayments.
Rates have reduced by up to 0.20% on its 90-95% LTV two and five-year fixed rate mortgages.
In its first-time buyer criteria, Darlington accepts self-employed borrowers, company directors, salary and share of net profit for limited company owners, variable income including commission and overtime, and will consider minor credit 'blips',
For buy-to-let landlords, the Society has removed the maximum age limit on all buy-to-let interest-only applications, including holiday lets and ex-pat holiday lets.
Additionally, Darlington has slashed rates for existing borrowers and product transfers by up to 0.30%. Product transfers are fee-free to existing borrowers and a £500 cashback is available on remortgage exclusive products.
Louise Thorpe, chief customer officer at Darlington Building Society, said: “Visa mortgages are the jewel in the crown of our specialist mortgages. Offering up to 95% LTV with fantastic supporting criteria, these mortgages are now more accessible than ever. Skilled workers are crucial to the UK’s labor market, so it’s important that more skilled workers can put down roots and experience stability, which is exactly what we hope to achieve with our new visa proposition.
“Not all first-time buyers work a 9-5 job, so we’ve flexed our criteria to open the market for more aspiring homeowners in a range of circumstances. Combined with a 40-year term and reductions on both our fixed products, more affordable mortgages for first-time borrowers have arrived. It’s about more than rates, our ethos is to find reasons to say ‘yes’ rather than ‘computer says no’. We know that no two applications are the same, so we balance automation and manual underwriting to provide mortgages that cater to a wide variety of borrowers while providing a smooth service for brokers.
“We regularly review our lending criteria so that it continues to work for an ever-changing market. Because buy-to-let properties are usually an investment and therefore likely to provide an income, it feels counterintuitive to cap the age at which somebody can benefit from additional income – particularly against the current financial landscape, where people are living longer and the state pension age moves further into old age. Planning a supplementary income is a sensible idea and we fully support responsible lending to enable that plan to be put into practice.”
