Nottingham Building Society has announced a series of updates to its residential and foreign national lending criteria to make home ownership more accessible for a wider range of borrowers.
As part of the changes, the lender has reduced the income threshold required to access its 5.5x income multiple from £85,000 to £60,000 gross income, including across joint applications.
In addition, borrowers starting new employment will no longer be subject to meeting a minimum of time in job requirement, making the process simpler and more inclusive for those taking up new roles.
These changes are coupled with interest rate cuts of up to 0.21% on residential products and lower stress rates.
The mutual has also expanded the global reach of its foreign national lending proposition by extending access to international credit data through its partnership with Nova Credit. Credit information can now be sourced from Ukraine and South Africa, taking the total number of supported countries to 15.
The Society’s partnership with Nova Credit allows intermediaries to also access historic credit files across the following countries worldwide: India, Philippines, Australia, US, Canada, Germany, Austria, Spain, Switzerland, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Kenya and Korea. The building society lends up to 90% LTV for foreign nationals arriving on visas.
Additionally, incoming foreign nationals on a family visa will now be eligible to apply, broadening the Society’s reach to more customers seeking to establish a home in the UK.
Matt Kingston, sales director at Nottingham Building Society, said: “We’re continually challenging ourselves to make home ownership more accessible for people whose lives don’t fit the traditional lending mould.
“This latest set of criteria updates reaffirm our commitment to creating fair and flexible routes to borrowing. We know that not every borrower’s journey is straightforward, which is why we’re focused on removing friction wherever we can, from recognising new employment to supporting foreign nationals with better access to credit data.
“Together with our intermediary partners, we’re helping to build a mortgage market that works for the way people really live and work today.”
