Central and Mercantile Trust revise criteria; Keystone relaunches five-year fixes – round-up

The maximum loan to value (LTV) both lenders will now offer in Northern Ireland has been lowered to 70 per cent and the minimum valuation required across the UK has been upped to £75,000. 

For Central Trust, loans of £100,000 net and above are now available up to 65 per cent LTV. The maximum advance available has been cut to £150,000 and its status 4 tier, which was for borrowers with up to four arrears, has been removed. 

Additionally, the minimum time required in employment is now six months. 

At Mercantile Trust, a minimum income of £22,500 has been introduced for first-time buyer and first-time landlords. It has also reduced the maximum advance for first charge bridging and buy-to-let terms to £500,000. 

For second charge, bridging and buy-to-let terms, the minimum advance has been lowered to £150,000. 

Maeve Ward (pictured), commercial operations director at Central Trust and Mercantile Trust, said: “We have made these criteria changes in response to current market conditions. While there is much uncertainty in the market at the current time, we have acted prudently, so we can continue to offer products which serve the underserved, as well as those that need to repair and rebuild, and those who have been victim of circumstance and require a second chance.  

“Advisers that submit cases to us will find that we are still willing to listen to the applicant’s story and apply a common sense approach to lending.” 

Keystone Property Finance reintroduces five-year fixes 

Specialist buy-to-let lender Keystone Property Finance has relaunched select five-year fixes to its range. 

These are available for standard and specialist properties, expats, holiday lets and product transfers at 65 and 75 per cent LTV. 

Pricing starts at 6.99 per cent for standard buy-to-let properties and go up to 7.69 per cent for holiday lets. 

Keystone is also offering two arrangement fee options starting from three per cent. However, landlords can choose to pay an additional 20 basis points on their rate for a smaller fee of two per cent. 

The lender is also allowing borrowers who completed on one of its existing variable rate mortgages to switch to a fixed rate without paying any fees and having the option of the lower arrangement fee. 

Elise Coole, managing director at Keystone Property Finance, said the lender was “delighted” to reintroduce fixed rate mortgages and said she was confident the range could stand on its own against direct competition. 

She added: “One of the standout features of our new range is that it provides a great deal of flexibility to borrowers who have recently taken out one of our variable rate loans. Using our ‘switch and fix’ initiative, these borrowers can move onto one of our new fixed rate mortgages fee-free.

“We believe this sort of flexibility is perfect for someone who believes that variable rates will continue to rise in the short-to-medium term and wants certainty over their repayments.”