Product changes announced by Optimum Credit

October 2, 2020 by Brendan O'Neill

Lenders

Optimum Credit has announced a number of changes to its slate of mortgage products, complete with fresh criteria and an across-the-board reduction in product prices.

Optimum provides second charge mortgage loans and is slashing prices on all of its products, as well as bringing back many interest-only, variable rate and discounted rate loan options. However, one of the biggest changes that it has confirmed as part of this revamp is the return of its slate of Near Prime mortgages. These are targeted at those potential customers who have a credit profile that puts a prime rate mortgage just out of reach for them.

As of now, the biggest Near Prime loan offered by Optimum Credit to customers will be £1 million, and it has also altered the criteria for these loans to restore them to what they were before the pandemic.

That means it will accept a maximum 50% variable income when it comes to Near Prime applicants, which includes things like commission, overtime and bonus pay.

Speaking to Financial Reporter, Optimum Commercial Director, Simon Mules, stated that the previous half of the year had been a difficult period for everyone, adding:

“We hope that this launch is the start of a new chapter – it is certainly a statement of our intent to grow our lending volumes and continue to take a leading role in the second charge mortgage market.”

Lenders’ bolstering their range of products offers proof that there is plenty of incentive to get a CeMAP mortgage advisor qualification, despite the pandemic.