In a broker note, Halifax said it will decline applications where the purchase price is under £40,000 to prevent fees being taken where the valuation is unlikely to be an ‘acceptable amount’.
The lender added that it would amend income multiple caps from five times sole and four and half times joint income to 4.75 for both sole and joint incomes, with immediate effect.
Halifax will not be changing the cap for loans over £500,000, which remains at four times income, while Help to Buy Mortgage Guarantee applications will stay at four and a half times income.
Changes have also been made to applications made by its Premier borrowers from today. The minimum loan amount for applications processed by Halifax’s Premier team has been increased to £350,000, which it said was to ‘increase the threshold in a growing market’.
Pipeline applications will not be affected by the change.