High street lender shuns professional sports people

August 16, 2017 by Brendan O'Neill

Lenders

Professional athletes will no longer be able to secure a mortgage from TSB, as it becomes the first major lender to refuse to offer mortgages to sports people.

According to a report from Which?, a TSB spokesperson told the organisation that only a very small percentage of custom at the high street bank is from professional sports people, and TSB doesn’t feel that they are customers typically supported by the bank. Although this may not pose a problem for some of the world’s biggest athletes, like Usain Bolt and Cristiano Ronaldo, it will cause significant problems for lower paid athletes, especially if other lenders decide to take the same view.

TSB has stated that athletes pose a significant risk due to a tendency to retire early and having an irregular income. However, the decision not to lend to sports people doesn’t include personal trainers or coaches.

A ‘professional athlete mortgage’ was introduced in 2015, by https://www.beaconfinancialtraining.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/cemap-online-and-classroom-training-uk.jpget Harborough Building Society. A 30% deposit was required to secure this mortgage, and the borrower was permitted to overpay 20% every year, without any fees being added. This was designed to make it possible for professional athletes to overpay while they were at the peak of their earning potential. However, the deal has since been removed, with no other product taking its place on the market.

Getting a mortgage can be difficult if you have an irregular income, like sports people or the self-employed, but mortgage advisors have studied for the CeMAP professional qualification so that they are able to help.