Specialist lender Hodge has removed the need to meet capital repayment affordability requirements when assessing interest-only applications for professionals and high-net-worth clients.
The firm said the change will increase the amount that customers can borrow.
The lender has also recently lowered the minimum income for those applying for professional mortgage products to £30,000, upped the maximum age to 50 and updated income types to allow projected income from chambers for trainee barristers.
In addition, the company has added new associate dentist income and updated the minimum residency for doctors from two years to 18 months for foreign national EU residents.
Emma Graham (pictured), business development director at Hodge, said: “We work really hard to get under the skin of our customers’ needs and listen carefully to what the brokers working with them are telling us. Understanding complex situations and demonstrating a flexible approach to lending for both brokers and customers is at the heart of everything that Hodge does.”
She added: “Aspects of the professional mortgage market have previously been underserved from a high street perspective, but throughout 2023 we have continued drawing on the knowledge of our highly experienced underwriters to add real value to this complex area of the market.
“We understand that like life, the level of income many people have at their disposal is less than straightforward – not least in the current economic climate – and this is yet another way Hodge has been able to offer support to our customers in the moments that matter.”
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.
