Since July 2025, lenders can use a modified affordability assessment (MAA) for borrowers who want to reduce their mortgage term or when a mortgage with a new lender is more affordable than either their existing home loan or a product transfer with their current lender.
Under MAA rules, lenders can apply less strict affordability checks as long as they satisfy themselves the borrower can afford the repayments.
Data obtained by Stonebridge from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) showed that between July and the end of 2025, the number of remortgages arranged with a new lender using MAAs more than doubled, rising 126% year-on-year to 9,664 from 4,275.
The number of product transfers that used MAAs was much lower, rising from 269 to 290. The number of separate lenders using MAAs increased from eight to 12.
Rob Clifford, chief executive of Stonebridge, said: “When the FCA made this change last summer, MAAs struck us as a boon for consumers, but more must be done to help them take advantage. MAAs are a game-changing opportunity for many homeowners, giving them much greater flexibility to lower their borrowing costs.”
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Value of advice
Clifford said there were many circumstances where homeowners feared affordability tests and wrongly assumed they would be declined for a new deal and must therefore stick with their existing lender.
This, said Clifford, is where mortgage advisers could prove their value to customers.
He added: “One of the ways they can do this is by making the most of their existing customer relationships and the data they hold on mortgage expirations. The trajectory of interest rates may be uncertain right now because of conflict but, as rates come down over the long term, guiding borrowers to better financial outcomes is going to become increasingly valuable to them.
“For many customers, taking the easy option and going direct to a lender without shopping around could prove to be a very costly mistake, and one they’re stuck with for years.”
