A number of mortgage criteria changes have been announced by Nottingham Building Society. The lender is now claiming it will make its products accessible to more borrowers.
Most of these changes concern the way that Nottingham BS will view applications for loans from people who work on a contractor basis. The lender is stating that borrowers in that situation should find it more feasible to get a mortgage and buy a home due to the adjustments to its criteria. These changes would certainly be welcomed by both customers and mortgage advisors if it turns out to be true.
One change that will be applied immediately is to the amount of time that contractor applicants need to have worked in one job on a fixed-term contract basis. That time period has been cut down to one year. A second criteria change sees the scrapping of the minimum time requirement for current contract work.
The third change will mean that those who are employed through umbrella firms can get a mortgage based on the earnings of 46 weeks, which is less time than it was before.
Alison Pallett, the sales director for Nottingham BS, told FT Adviser that the company believed that these alterations would enable more people to realise their ambitions to buy a home. She went on to add that they reflected a world that was moving towards contract work.
Advisors who have a CeMAP qualification will view this as good news at a time when many criteria changes are reducing the availability of mortgages.
