Its two-year fixed rate at 80 per cent loan to value (LTV) with £995 fee has fallen from 6.2 per cent to 5.8 per cent. Its fee-free equivalent has decreased from 6.35 per cent to 5.95 per cent.
The lender’s two-year fixed rate at 90 per cent LTV with £995 fee has gone down from 6.35 per cent to 5.85 per cent. The fee-free version has reduced from 6.5 per cent to six per cent.
Hodge said that this was the second reduction so far this year, with rate reductions applied across its entire residential range around the end of January.
Higher lending LTV
The lender launched professional mortgages up to 90 per cent LTV in December and added that the rate reductions showed it was “listening to intermediary partners about what is needed in the market”.
Hodge noted that research found that the average loan to income (LTI) ratio for its professional mortgage products since launch was 4.4 times earnings. The rate reduction will therefore allow borrowers to borrow up to six times their earnings.
Emma Graham (pictured), business development director at Hodge, said: “We are so pleased that we can again cut rates on our products, and particularly our Professional Mortgage product, another of our mortgages designed to serve the underserved, which has been so widely welcomed in the market since it launched.
“The LTI figures are also good to see, as it shows that people are using the product for what it was designed for and are seeing the benefits of our augmented LTI parameters and flexible approach to income.”
She added: “Our data shows that professional mortgage customers are looking for much greater levels of borrowing than others we currently serve, and found that the average loan for professional customers is more than £360,000 – more than twice that of our 50 plus customers – demonstrating that they are taking advantage of our LTI and also LTV of up to 90 per cent for this product.”
