Together amends AVM criteria

The lender said the changes would allow for more cases to go forward without the constraints associated with full valuations. 

The maximum LTV the lender will accept for AVMs has risen from 70 per cent to 75 per cent for residential first charge applications. Together will also consider lower confidence levels, subject to LTV. 

The lender’s confidence level is its certainty of the valuation figure outputted by the AVM system, with larger loan sizes available for properties with a higher rating. 

It has also increased the maximum loan size for cases which can undergo an AVM from £250,000 to £500,000. 

Additionally, Together has introduced a stepped LTV approach to its AVM criteria which it said allowed it to be more flexible with its confidence level criteria and means properties which fell slightly outside certain categories can still be considered for certain LTV tiers.

James Briggs (pictured), head of intermediary sales for personal finance at Together, said: “Having listened to our packager partners, we were keen to take steps to reduce the time and cost needed on transactions.  

“Looking to build on our already fast turnaround times, these new rules will assist purchase, remortgage and second charge transactions secured on standard construction properties.” 

He added: “This allows us to be more flexible with our confidence level criteria, and will in particular support clients looking to secure against lower confidence level properties, where a valuation would be mandatory for many of our competitors.”