The lender will implement the change from 8 August. For any pipeline cases, those submitted before 8pm on 7 August will not be affected.
In a note sent out to brokers, TSB said: “We will no longer accept residential mortgage applications for new customers, where any applicant is employed or self-employed as a professional sportsperson.”
It added: “To support existing customers, we may consider residential applications for the following: existing customers moving home; further advances.”
The change will not affect buy-to-let applications.
A TSB spokesperson told Mortgage Solutions: “Providing residential mortgages to professional sport players forms a very small part of TSB’s mortgage business and, based on our experience to date, these are not typically customers that TSB can support.
“Therefore, to avoid wasting anyone’s time will we no longer be accepting new applications from 8 August for this group of people who could be better supported elsewhere.”
Short-lived career
Coreco director Andrew Montlake thought it was an interesting change by the bank. “While I understand that a sportsperson’s career may be shortlived, it still seems a little strange given that the pay of many professional sportspeople seems to be rising, especially if your name is Neymar Jr,” he said.
“We usually find there is a story behind a move like this that involves a loan that has gone bad, but this still seems a little unfair on many sportsmen and women who want to own their own home.”
He noted that retirement seems to be a major hurdle for most sportspeople who are in physically competitive sports, such as football.
“Mortgage lenders will not allow borrowing past the age of 35 unless there is evidence of enough income into retirement,” Hall wrote.
“In reality, not all sportspeople are going to land a job with Sky Sports when they retire and, if they do, it can be over too quickly if they say the wrong thing.”
