During Aldermore’s Mortgage Market Insight, in collaboration with Mortgage Solutions, David Hollingworth, associate director of communications at L&C Mortgages, said there had been a lot of innovation around loan-to-value (LTV) and loan-to-income (LTI) limits, adding that the specialist market could better promote options for people with credit blips.
Watch the video below:
Jon Cooper, director of property distribution at Aldermore, said that even where the lender was offering LTVs as high as 95%, most borrowers only borrowed up to around 82%, as brokers rightly advised them not to overstretch themselves, and uncertainty had made borrowers cautious.
Aldermore Insights with Jon Cooper: Edition 9 – Why lending strategy is becoming more central in buy to let
Sponsored by Aldermore
“For us, that can go us to 95% and only achieve 82%, I think that tells its own story of the market we’re in and the affordability pressures… people don’t want to overcommit,” Cooper said, while Hollingworth said mortgage deals could not solve all housing issues, amid a chronic need for affordable housing and rising prices.
Cooper said even when comparing house price growth to wage growth over the last five years, there was a 10% difference, putting potential first-time buyers further away from the deposit needed.
Cooper added: “Still, customers sit there today, thinking and feeling: ‘I can’t get on the housing ladder’ – that’s the biggest crime.
“Brokers will be able to definitely open doors, give suggestions, give options, challenge us as lenders, definitely in the specialist lending space. But if today, it isn’t possible, it isn’t a reality, then it is – how do we plan for it?”
Hollingworth said this was why brokers needed to nurture these relationships.
This video was filmed in May 2026 and is the fourth in a series of four videos. Watch the first part here: Sector’s lurch from one uncertainty to the next underscores broker value – Aldermore video
Watch the second part here: Brokers should challenge lenders to find solutions for borrowers – Aldermore video
Watch the third part here: ‘People say the BTL market is disappearing, I say it’s grown up’ – Aldermore video
