Two-year fixed rate remortgage products now start from 3.98 per cent and five-year fixed rate remortgage start from 3.54 per cent, with fee-free and £999 fee options.
Up to 85 per cent loan to value (LTV) loans are available between £25,000 and £1m, and from 85 to 90 per cent LTV the loan size varies between £25,000 and £75,000.
Two-year fixed rate up to 60 per cent LTV has risen from 0.39 per cent to 3.98 per cent, and between 80 and 85 per cent LTV has increased 0.37 per cent to 4.09 per cent. Both are subject to £999 fee.
Its five-year fixed rate remortgage at 85 to 90 per cent with £999 fee has gone up by 0.25 per cent to 4.13 per cent.
Large loan products have risen by 0.5 per cent, with two-year products starting from 3.75 per cent and five-year products beginning from 3.64 per cent.
The products come with a £1,499 fee and loans are available between £1m and £5m.
Basic property valuation to be sent electronically
Halifax added that for mortgage valuation level 1 reports, which is a basic property valuation for underwriting purposes only, the customer can now receive them electronically rather than in the post.
It explained: “This means the customer will receive their report quicker and we can reduce the environmental impact of printing paper reports and posting these to customers.”
Halifax continued that one the surveyor had visited and completed their report customers would receive a text from its surveying partner e.surv, which will share a link allowing customers to open, view and save the report.
Income verification changes
Meanwhile, today Halifax announced that it was making certain changes to its requirements for the keying and verification of some incomes.
For standard incomes, the only change for those with basic income would be from ‘the latest payslip’ to the ‘latest month’s payslip’. If a customer is paid weekly or fortnightly, then the bank has stated it will require additional payslips (four payslips if weekly, two if fortnightly).
For any additional income such as bonuses, commission or overtime, the verification requirement will change from ‘latest three payslips’ to ‘latest three month’s payslips’.
If additional income is paid quarterly, half yearly or annually, Halifax says it now requires proof of the latest two years’ income. It noted that the additional income “to be keyed will be the lower of either (a) the total additional income earned in the last year or (b) the average of the income earned in each of the latest two years”.
The bank continued that “it is important the two-year average is keyed when this applies as changing the figure when we verify the income could affect the loan amount available”.
Halifax has also added three new options to its ‘contract type’ dropdown menu in the Halifax Intermediaries online. These are construction industry scheme, junior/locum doctor and zero-hour contract. While there are no changes to the income verification requirements, the bank noted that the changes would allow it to provide a next steps message to reflect the specific income requirements for each contract type.
Halifax stated that the changes would apply to all full applications submitted from 12 September. If a decision in principle was keyed before 12 September but the full application submitted on or after 12 September, the new requirements would apply.
