TML also confirmed it had dropped the bar on mortgages with benefits tenants in-situ last week, which means the vast majority of mortgage lenders are prepared to lend to landlords letting to tenants receiving welfare benefits.
Paul Adams, sales director at Pepper Money UK, said: “We’re really pleased that we have been able to make the necessary risk and process changes to remove the DSS restrictions on our buy-to-let mortgages.”
He added: “We are continually reviewing our products and risk criteria to ensure they are appropriate for the market and meet the needs of our customers. This was an area, where it was clear that change was required, so we have listened to the feedback and made those changes a reality.”
State Bank of India is the last lender barring DSS tenants on landlord mortgages on official lending policy.
However, an SBI UK spokesperson said: “While the Bank’s policy is currently being reviewed, the bank is flexible with each application being reviewed on a case by case basis. For example, if all bank lending criteria are met, bank would lend against BTL properties with DSS tenants.”
Back on 1 March this year, Heather Wheeler, the housing minister called for an end to letting adverts which potentially discriminate against would-be tenants on housing benefit.
On the same day, NatWest announced it was removing all restrictions to this type of mortgage lending.
A UK Finance survey in May this year suggested firms with no restrictions against tenants receiving benefits constituted 89 per cent of the market for new BTL lending, taking it to over 90% today, with this latest move.
