Daily Criteria Update
As we creep another day nearer the bank holiday weekend, lenders have been busy!
Today we’ve seen some re-entrants back into certain sectors of lending, more physical valuations returning in England and news of Scotland’s planned re-opening of the housing market.
Matthew Corker, our Lender Relationship Manager, also has a heads up for you on some product changes too that you may need to be aware of if you have pending applications to be submitted.
Lenders who have paused accepting new mortgage applications:
- None
Lenders who have reinstated lending:
- Skipton Intermediaries are now accepting New Build applications up to 75% LTV including Help to Buy
- Zephyr Homeloans have resumed lending on Buy to Lets upto 60% LTV and with a maximum loan amount of £1m
Changes to income and affordability restrictions:
- None
Changes to occupation restrictions:
- None
Valuations
Physical Valuation Updates and associated criteria
- Lloyds Banking Group brands – BM Solutions, Halifax and Scottish Widows have confirmed that they have recommenced physical valuations this week in England on properties that are owner occupied, unoccupied and new build only. Where applicable, desktop valuations will be utilised which includes on Buy to Let properties which aren’t new build
- West Brom for intermediaries have announced that they are resuming physical valuations in England
- Zephyr Homeloans are now in a position to instruct physical valuations in England for both new business and pipeline cases
Desktop Valuations
- None
Property Restrictions Imposed
- None
Property Restrictions Lifted
- None
Loan Sizes
- None
Property Values
- None
LTV Reductions
Residential
- None
Buy to Let
- None
LTV Increases
Residential
- None
Buy to Let
- Accord Mortgages are increasing their LTV from 65% up to 75% on Remortgages and lending 75% LTV again on Purchases from 8am on Friday 22nd May
Product Transfers
- None
Industry News
There has been talk in the news today of Scotland looking to lift their lockdown restrictions slightly but Nicola Sturgeon has said that estate agents must wait until June to see house move restrictions lifted and that some branches will not be able to open until August. She has said that the Scottish housing market is to reopen on or after 18th June following the publication of the Scottish lockdown road map today.
So 18th June 2020 looks like being the key date for Scotland’s housing market to start to re-open so we expect to see announcements from lenders around physical valuations start to emerge over the coming weeks in anticipation of this.
In some cases, there have been additional restrictions placed on things like loan sizes and property values to enable the lender to do Desktop Valuations. You’ll find these have been amended by the lenders in the relevant criteria categories on Knowledge Bank. There are also the “lender announcements” under the lender’s logos in the search results to alert you to anything you need to be aware of before placing the case. To see these features and much more, log in to Knowledge Bank here.
Our Lender Relationship Manager, Matthew Corker comments:
“We told you yesterday that Aldermore had announced that they were resuming physical valuations for Residential cases with Buy to Let to follow shortly. They’ve given us a little more detail on this today and there are just a few things you need to make your client aware of. They have set down ‘safety standards’ for the safety of both surveyors and occupants of the properties and these must be met. These are:
- Open all internal doors pre inspection
- Maximise property ventilation during inspection
- Control or remove pets
- Adhere to a mutual 2 metres social distancing
Aldermore have also stated that if the safety standard are not met, the valuation will be stopped and cancelled and your clients won’t be refunded if the valuer has already started their inspection. Knowing this in advance is really helpful for you to be able to have that conversation with your client to prep them in advance of the valuation. Of course they will be told as well on the call to book in the valuation when they’ll do the initial checks to make sure that it’s safe to enter and that your clients are comfortable with it going ahead.
Not criteria related but just a heads up that Skipton Intermediaries will be extending the dates on their Residential Fixed Rate products to August 2022, 2025 and 2030, they are withdrawing their Residential 7 year products and the 70% LTV Buy to Let products. They will also be increasing some Buy to Let rates. The affected products will be withdrawn at 10pm on Thursday 21st May but you will have until 10pm on Friday 29th May to submit your application where a Mortgage Illustration has been provided.
On Knowledge Bank, lenders input their own criteria and one of the functions that we give them is the ability to schedule changes in advance for the date and time that they come into effect. One change that is in the scheduler that you need to be aware of from Accord Mortgages is that they will no longer accept cases where all applicants are first time landlords. From 8am on Friday 22nd May at least one applicant must already own an existing Buy to Let property. Therefore if you have any cases where both applicants are first time landlords, they’ll need to be at full mortgage application stage before this deadline. ”