Mutual Skipton Building Society and its broker-arm Skipton Intermediaries, has removed its maximum loan size cap for first-time buyers.
The building society said the move to dispense with the £500,000 cap will support the London and South housing markets in particular, where first-time buyers with good jobs and deposits struggle to meet lender affordability criteria.
With average monthly rent payments in London estimated at £1,500, removing the maximum loan size cap will enable many more to get on the housing ladder, said the mutual.
Kris Brewster, Skipton’s head of products, (pictured), said: “It’s important that we continually review our lending criteria, as we all know how fast the UK mortgage market changes. People who have good jobs, earning very healthy salaries, and have saved up large deposits, are still being priced out of the south and London markets. This move will enable more first-time buyers to move away from renting, and to get the keys to their first home.”
UK house prices increased 20% between 2011 and 2015 with London prices increasing 53% across the same period with the average price paid for a London flat at £545,000 in 2015.
Victoria Hartley is contributing editor at Mortgage Solutions, Specialist Lending Solutions, Your Money and Your Mortgage at London-based publishing company AE3 Media.
She has an MA in Radio from Goldsmiths after gaining a 2:1 in a Comparative American Studies BA at Warwick University. She also holds a TEFL qualification and taught overseas in Mexico and Japan from 1994 to 1997.
Her role includes editorial oversight of the news, analysis and features, event content management and strategic and editorial consultancy for the AE3 Media group. She is an experienced video, broadcast and live-event host and regularly chairs web and podcast debates and interviews.
Multiple award nominations have resulted in two wins: Santander Media Awards, trade journalist of the year and Headlinemoney Awards, mortgage journalist of the year (B2B). Here is one of the award-winning pieces: https://www.mortgagesolutions.co.uk/news/2011/07/21/exclusive-tale-bailey-fraud-witness/
Previous roles include editorships of Mortgage Solutions, consumer title What Mortgage and trade title Credit Today as well as a stint freelancing for a variety of outlets including The Guardian and Which? Money.