High street lender TSB has broadened the Mortgage Charter measures set up by the government and the Financial Conduct Authority to cover its buy-to-let customers.
The Mortgage Charter, which was launched in June, is a voluntary initiatives that lenders can sign up to and includes several measures to support borrowers, such as allowing them to temporarily switch to interest-only, allowing mortgage term extensions or temporarily deferring payments.
The charter has 43 lender signatories and covers around 90 per cent of the mortgage market.
The charter itself does not cover buy-to-let mortgage borrowers, and was originally designed to support regulated residential homeowners who were “worried about higher rates”.
Nicola Bannister, TSB’s financial support director, said: “We have a range of ways to help all TSB customers impacted by the rising cost of living – including those worried about their mortgage payments both on residential and buy-to-let properties. We continue to encourage those customers to contact us as soon as possible.”
Last week, the Treasury Committee questioned mortgage lenders on the impact of rising mortgage rates on the market and asked about the Mortgage Charter.
Lenders said customer use of Mortgage Charter measures was expected to be lower than pandemic payment holidays, but consistency and customer awareness were key consequences of the initiative.
Paragon CEO Nigel Terrington said that while the Mortgage Charter did not cover the buy-to-let sector, it was following the measures and would be happy to sign if required to.
Anna is currently the deputy editor for Mortgage Solutions and editor for Specialist Lending Solutions. She has worked as a journalist since 2019, having secured her Gold Standard NCTJ diploma from News Associates in a fast-track six-month course.
She started her career as a report at specialist publication The Insurance Insider covering a wide range of areas before joining Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions in 2021.
In her role, she helps put together and structure the news agenda for the day and writes up press releases, reports, interviews, analyses and exclusives across both titles. She also commissions blogs for Specialist Lending Solutions and hosts online masterclasses and in-person events across the business.
She has been shortlisted for three journalism awards, which include BIBA Journalist and Media Awards Scoop of Year Award in 2020, Headline Money Mortgage Journalist of the Year Award (B2B) in 2022 and 2023.
Prior to being a journalist, Anna worked in ecommerce across Snow + Rock, Cycle Surgery and Runners Need websites, and before that worked at specialist financial PR firm Rostrum.
In her spare time, Anna enjoys reading, seeing live music, and cooking for friends and family. When she gets a chance, she also enjoys hiking, skiing and indoor rock climbing.
