The mutual will allow borrowers to choose any product from its existing range up to 80 per cent loan to value (LTV) depending on circumstances.
This will be open to NHS and medical professionals with a 12-month track record of earnings in a related field, zero-hours contracted workers in professional occupations with 12 months’ history with no gaps, and non-professionals with a minimum of two years’ track record and no gaps in the last 12 months.
It will also consider borrowers who are Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) members, agency, nursing bank, fixed, temporary and short-term contracts, IT consultants and self-employed contractors on a case-by-case basis.
The mutual will underwrite cases manually and will not base decisions on credit scoring.
Simon Glass (pictured), the mutual’s recently appointed head of new business lending, said: “We intend this to be the first of many further enhancements to our mortgage offering, to meet the evolving needs of our customers.
“It’s an example of how we’re responding to customer and broker feedback with solutions that serve increasing demand in different segments of the market.”
He added: “The so-called ‘gig economy’ is a fact of today’s working environment which is clearly here to stay, and we believe we are perfectly placed to help the growing number of people who are either choosing, or forced, to earn a living in this kind of more flexible way.
“Our ability to take the time to review each case thoroughly, on its merits, and make common sense lending decisions on the back of that, is perfect for these kinds of borrowers who are considered less ‘vanilla’ by bigger lenders which rely on automated, tick box decision-making.”
