For applicants whose latest accounts date from 2021, Clydesdale no longer requires its Self-Employed Supplementary Form. It also has reduced its requirement for three months of business bank statements to just one.
Many of the self-employed have struggled to secure a mortgage from mainstream lenders, particularly as their incomes can be more complex and their profits may have fluctuated during the pandemic.
However, clients whose latest accounts have a year-end date of 31 December 2020, both the form and three months’ worth of statements would still be needed.
During the pandemic, many lenders adjusted their criteria for the self-employed as they saw more Covid-impacted accounts that showed a drop in profits which had a knock-on effect on traditional affordability measurements.
However, in the latter half of last year, some providers loosened criteria to enable self-employed borrowers to apply for a mortgage.
Richard Walker, Virgin Money’s national sales manager for Intermediaries, said: “During the early stages of the pandemic we increased documentation requirements for self-employed customers because we knew that Covid-19 was impacting businesses in a variety of ways.
“This allowed us to understand the impact and provide support where it was needed. However, for the increasing numbers of customers who have submitted recent financial accounts that show how their business has performed through the pandemic, we no longer need to ask for the extra information.”
