Skipton Building Society is changing policy to make it easier for self-employed contractors when applying for a mortgage.
The UK’s fourth largest building society last month confirmed it was returning to pre-pandemic criteria by increasing maximum loan to income for residential mortgages.
Now Skipton is reverting to its pre-covid lending policy for self-employed contractors and now only requires one month remaining on current contract, reduced from a previous minimum of three months.
The Society is also made a policy change to buy to let pound-for-pound remortages, which will all be calculated using an income coverage ratio (ICR) of 125%, @5.5% or 5% (if 5-year fixed or longer).
The move has been welcomed by mortgage brokers – Simon Butler, director at CMME, said: We highly value and welcome the continued support of Skipton in the contractor space, notably their willingness to listen to ongoing feedback around the challenges our clients face in securing a mortgage.
“CMME see more and more of the pre-pandemic 6-12 month contracts now offered over three months or less so this is a great change to their already contractor friendly policy that will help many more of our customers.”
John Scrivens (pictured), regional manager at Skipton Building Society for Intermediaries, added: “We’re pleased to announce these changes to our lending criteria, to support brokers to help more of their clients own their own homes. It’s all part of our mission to make things easier for brokers.”
