Landlords will no longer need to meet a set earned income threshold, but income will still need to be evidenced.
The firm has also simplified its income verification requirements, lowering the number of documents needed to submit a case.
Employed applicants will need to offer their most recent payslip and retired applicants will need to show their latest pension statement, while self-employed applications will need to provide their latest tax computation, calculation or tax return.
Required trading history for self-employed applicants and contractors has been cut from two years to one full tax year. The change reflects the growing number of landlords operating via limited companies or with more recently established income streams.
The maximum mortgage term has been extended from 30 to 35 years and the height restriction on blocks of flats has been removed.
The maximum loan to value (LTV) for new-build flats has been upped from 70% to 75%.
Fleet Mortgages has made changes to acceptable construction types and property features on blocks of flats and removed the age restriction for flat roofs and steel or concrete frame blocks and the acceptance of blocks of flats with swimming pools.
Steve Cox, chief commercial officer at Fleet Mortgages, said: “These changes are the result of detailed discussions with brokers, networks and clubs about how our criteria could reflect the realities of today’s buy-to-let market, and the wants and needs of landlord borrower clients. That has clearly shifted in a number of areas, and we wanted our criteria to reflect that in multiple different areas.
“We have focused on areas where adjustments can make a meaningful difference to advisers placing cases, whether that is removing the height restriction for blocks of flats, or increasing the maximum LTV on new-build flats, while also removing the minimum income requirement, reducing the length of self-employed and contractors’ working requirements to just one full tax year, extending mortgage terms to improve affordability, or widening our property appetite.
“At the same time, we have ensured appropriate lending safeguards remain in place. These series of important criteria changes offer… a sensible evolution, which will allow more landlord borrowers to access the finance they need via our range of excellently priced products.”
