NatWest has announced changes to its residential mortgage lending criteria, enhancing its loan-to-income (LTI) criteria for borrowers earning over £75,000 for 75% LTV purchases and below.
From today, NatWest will enhance affordability support for customers by introducing targeted increases to LTI limits. Sole applicants earning above £75,000 will now be able to borrow up to 6× their income on purchases and remortgages at 75% LTV and below, with the same 6× LTI also available to joint applicants whose combined income exceeds £100,000.
In addition, NatWest is increasing LTIs for a wider group of customers by raising the maximum to 5.5 x salary, up from 5 x salary, allowing them to borrow more, improving their ability to buy their first home, move home or remortgage to NatWest.
These changes apply to repayment mortgages only. Under the new criteria, a customer earning £75,000 a year could now borrow up to £37,500 more to fund their property purchase or remortgage.
In addition, NatWest has launched a dedicated WhatsApp channel for mortgage brokers and intermediaries.
Launched on Monday, the new channel allows mortgage brokers to make instant contact with the NatWest Intermediaries team, giving brokers access to expert guidance and support in real time.
The NatWest WhatsApp channel will provide support with pre-application guidance, post-application support, and basic administrative tasks such as password resets from the NatWest Broker Portal.
Brokers looking for more guidance as to how they can use the channel can visit NatWest’s dedicated support hub.
Lloyd Cochrane, head of mortgage propositions at NatWest Group commented: "Today we announce new lending criteria for our mortgage customers to help more people get the home or mortgage that they need. As a major lender supporting the housing market in the UK, we are committed to championing home ownership and today’s changes allow us to responsibly lend more to our mortgage customers.
"Alongside this, we have also launched a dedicated WhatsApp channel for mortgage brokers so that brokers can get instant access to our intermediaries team. We have launched this to make it even easier for brokers to work with us. All these moves support our goal of bringing more joy and less stress to the process of buying a home in the UK."
