Saffron for Intermediaries has made changes across its product range, including higher loan-to-income (LTI) limits and a new development finance approach.
From today, 16th April, Saffron has increased the maximum LTI ratio for professionals from 5.5x to 6.0x on loans up to 80% loan-to-value (LTV).
Those borrowing up to 90% LTV remain capped at 5.5 times income.
Additionally, the lender now accepts professionals who qualified up to 10 years ago, covering more professions such as doctors, solicitors, dentists and mortgage brokers.
Management consultants, including strategy consultants, and investment bankers continue to be accepted.
The lender has also revised its development finance offer, with maximum loan size has increasing from £3m to £5m.
Developers can now borrow up to 90% of costs and 70% of gross development value (GDV).
The Product term options now run up to 36 months.
Saffron has also changed criteria for residential and buy-to-let (BTL) mortgages.
Foster income is now accepted for those with a 12-month track record, calculated on the most recent three months’ payments.
Joint visa applicants no longer need to earn £75,000 each if their joint income exceeds £100,000.
Additionally, paperwork has been reduced for some applications as P60s are no longer needed for standard employee income cases.
Self-employed directors with two years’ trading can use SA302s or tax year overviews when borrowing up to 80% LTV, if affordability is based on salary and dividends.
Furthermore, interest rates have been cut across owner occupied, self employed and contractor products.
Rates for 5-year fixes at 80% LTV now begin at 4.57% for owner occupied, 4.87% for contractors, and 5.07% for self employed borrowers.
Tony Hall, head of business development at saffron for intermediaries, said: “We’ve started the year strongly with a record quarter for completions and our mortgage book is at an all-time high.
“As we continue to grow, we’re focused on making sure that progress reflects what brokers and their clients need – which is exactly what our ‘embracing different’ approach is about.
“The biggest change in this update is to our development finance proposition.”
Hall added: “With rising building costs, we’ve made it easier for developers to access the funding they need, including increasing the loan to cost to 90% and the maximum loan size to £5 million.
“Alongside development finance, we’ve made changes across our residential and buy-to-let range from extending our professional income boost to 6.0x LTI, to simplifying documentation and refining criteria based on broker feedback.
“At Saffron, we believe great lending isn’t about one big change – it’s built brick by brick, with the right elements added over time.”
He said: “Combined with our revamped development finance offering, it puts us in a great position to keep growing with brokers and help even more clients access lending. And this isn’t the end – we have more changes planned for later in the year!”
