Accord Mortgages will not accept new lending applications from workers on furlough from Tuesday 1 September.
Residential and buy-to-let applicants must be back at work before their income can be considered.
The lender said the move aims to provide greater clarity and improve service to brokers and their clients.
Jeremy Duncombe, director of intermediary distribution at Accord Mortgages said: “We appreciate that brokers find themselves in an ever-changing environment as lenders make regular updates in response to Covid-19.
“We are receiving a huge volume of enquiries around what the furlough scheme means for applications, which is impacting our capacity to write new business.
“To ensure we can manage service levels and continue to lend responsibly, we have made the difficult decision to simplify our lending policy which hopefully provides more transparency for brokers and improves turnaround times.”
For cases already submitted where the applicant is on furlough, additional information must be evidenced by 11 September to proceed.
Brokers with a case in the pipeline will be contacted by an Accord underwriter to discuss the next steps.
Yorkshire Building Society has also updated its lending policy and applicants must be back at work before their income can be considered.
Clydesdale
Clydesdale also will not accept any form of variable income, including overtime and bonuses.
The lender said all self-employed applicants will need to provide their last three months’ business bank statements to prove continued turnover.
A self-employed supplementary form must be submitted alongside the application.
Changes don’t affect applications received before 17 April 2020, which the lender said will be assessed on a case by case basis.
Skipton for Intermediaries
Skipton Building Society will no longer be including furloughed income within affordability for both residential and buy-to-let applications.
The lender said as the scheme is due to end in October as a responsible lender it wants to make sure customers can afford their mortgage over the long term.
Where the client is returning to work before 31 October and if the loan to value does not exceed 60 per cent, Skipton asked brokers to speak to their BDM to see if an application can be made on an ‘exceptional’ basis.
