Mortgage News
Santander ups max LTV for self-employed applicants to 90 per cent
Santander will increase the maximum loan to value (LTV) for self-employed applicants to 90 per cent to improve affordability for borrowers.
The maximum LTV previously was 75 per cent and the limit for existing Santander mortgage customers moving home remains 95 per cent LTV.
The change comes into effect from tomorrow and its affordability calculator will be updated to reflect the change.
It follows on from changes to its self-employed criteria that it made in April. The bank takes an average of the last two years’ income figures or the latest year if it is lower, which compares to three years’ income before.
At the time, it also changes Covid-19 business impacted definition and said it would only capture details of outstanding support loans, such as Bounce Back Loans or Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans.
The lender added that it had simplified its income evidence requirements so applicants would only have to provide an accountant’s certificate rather than business bank statements.
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In its latest criteria update, Santander reiterated that for limited company directors it would only accept an accountant’s certificate and it would use business year-end salary and dividends for income assessment from the certificate.
It also said that the income from the certificate should be checked in the affordability calculator before submitting an agreement in principle or full mortgage application to ensure the correct income and net pay figures are used.
Graham Sellar, Santander UK’s head of product proposition, said: “We are pleased to have increased our LTV to 90 per cent for self-employed borrowers. We’ve made some changes that help us process applications more effectively, and enable us to open up the market for more people, providing an even better service to our brokers and customers.”