"We feel this is an important step given the recent upwards movements in house prices and predictions of further growth this year."
Previously the income multiple sat at a maximum of 4.5 times the applicant’s income.
The Society says it is not limiting its maximum income multiples to traditional 'professionals' as its manual underwriting approach allows it to assess each application individually.
The change comes as part of wider improvements to the Society’s affordability assessments, including:
• the ability to exclude non-dependants in the household for the purposes of affordability;
• increasing the regular shift pay allowance from 50% to 100% for selected applicants;
• allowing the use of 100% of buy-to-let rental profits;
• and accepting income from retired company directors who continue to receive an income from the business.
Richard Norrington, CEO of Ipswich Building Society, said: “We’re really pleased to get 2021 off to a positive start by enhancing our income multiples for high earners. We feel this is an important step given the recent upwards movements in house prices and predictions of further growth this year.
“Whilst it's likely that many higher multiple applicants will be professionals, it’s important to us to be inclusive and that’s why we’ve taken the step to allow anyone with a higher income to apply, so that we don’t exclude individuals who have made a financial success of their career in other fields or industries.”