Skipton Building Society has changed its variable income criteria, which covers bonuses, overtime or sales commission, increasing the amount that customers can borrow.
The changes include accepting up to 100 per cent of regular variable income, like quarterly bonuses where a similar amount is given semi-regularly, into a customer’s income calculation.
The lender will need 12 months’ evidence in the form of a P60 or payslip for the income to be considered.
For non-regular variable income, such as overtime or sales commission which is seasonally affected or occurs irregularly, the lender will include 50 per cent of this as part of a customer’s income calculation, or 100 per cent if the income is established as “sustainable”.
To ascertain non-regular variable income the lender will ask for two years’ worth of evidence.
The lender changed its criteria during the pandemic, having previously accepted up to 100 per cent of guaranteed other income if a borrower could provide two years’ worth of evidence.
It changed this to 50 per cent across the board during the pandemic due to uncertainty around job stability and other income such as bonuses and commission.
The lender said that if borrowers had received furlough or a Self-Employed Income Support Scheme grant it would need two years’ of evidence and would take the lower of the last two years when income fell, or an average if it increased, into its assessment.
Anna is currently the deputy editor for Mortgage Solutions and editor for Specialist Lending Solutions. She has worked as a journalist since 2019, having secured her Gold Standard NCTJ diploma from News Associates in a fast-track six-month course.
She started her career as a report at specialist publication The Insurance Insider covering a wide range of areas before joining Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions in 2021.
In her role, she helps put together and structure the news agenda for the day and writes up press releases, reports, interviews, analyses and exclusives across both titles. She also commissions blogs for Specialist Lending Solutions and hosts online masterclasses and in-person events across the business.
She has been shortlisted for three journalism awards, which include BIBA Journalist and Media Awards Scoop of Year Award in 2020, Headline Money Mortgage Journalist of the Year Award (B2B) in 2022 and 2023.
Prior to being a journalist, Anna worked in ecommerce across Snow + Rock, Cycle Surgery and Runners Need websites, and before that worked at specialist financial PR firm Rostrum.
In her spare time, Anna enjoys reading, seeing live music, and cooking for friends and family. When she gets a chance, she also enjoys hiking, skiing and indoor rock climbing.
