Remortgage

We offer remortgages up to 90% LTV, with a minimum loan size of £45,000. We’ll also consider remortgages with additional borrowing for almost any purpose, from simple capital-raising to home improvements or purchase of equity. We may also allow consolidation of debts up to £35,000.

We offer a fee-free remortgage package, if you are considering transferring your mortgage to us and are looking for a better rate, or even just want to extend your term. We cover the cost of the standard legal and valuation fees for the switch to us when using the Society’s panel of professionals. If you prefer, as an alternative, we can offer a £500 cashback and you are free to choose your own solicitor.

Self-employed

We can lend to borrowers who are self-employed, who have a minimum of one year’s accounts (up to 80% LTV and where their business is in the same occupation as their former employed profession). If borrowing over 80% then a minimum of 3 years’ accounts or HMRC evidence will be required.

In some cases, we may except 2 years’ evidence plus a projection.

We can, in many cases, take the most recent year’s income when calculating affordability if income has risen steadily, year-on-year. The documentation we will consider to certify income includes full accounts, SA302s and tax computations.

Self-build

We offer self-build mortgages subject to satisfactory certification and insurance, and where the build is being undertaken by a registered builder or under the design and supervision of a suitably-qualified chartered architect or surveyor.

We will consider staged payment advances for self-build mortgages, subject to a maximum LTV of 80%, valuation at each stage and written confirmation from the local authority that the planning permission has been activated by the building work.

Staged payments are normally granted as follows:

• Land can be considered at maximum LTV of 50%
• First-floor joists (wall plate)
• Roofed in
• Plastered out
• Completion

However, we will consider different release stage combinations, at our discretion.

Extensive renovations and conversions, such as barn conversions, are also part of our offering, subject to similar checks and balances.

Later-life lending

We are committed to offering mortgages to people both in, or going into, retirement, recognising that life demographics are steadily increasing demand in this area.

We can offer all of our deals to older people, up to a maximum age limit of 90 and subject to affordability. For Retirement Interest-only (RIO) mortgages, there is no age limit.

We can also look at solutions for lending on joint-applicant cases, without the need for the applicant with the lowest income to afford the loan at application stage.

Unusual property

We can consider a wide variety of properties that don’t conform to standard mortgage application criteria, such as homes with annexes, large acreages, or semi-commercial, mixed-use properties. Perhaps the property is of non-standard construction; a historic or grade 2 listed building, or simply one with a thatched roof. We can also look at potential conversions from architectural, industrial, religious, or even maritime structures, for example barns, warehouses, chapels, etc.

So, if you need a lender that is prepared to think outside the box, contact us to discuss your requirements and we’ll go the extra mile to help you.

Retirement Interest-only (RIO) lending

We will consider income types from a variety of non-salaried sources for RIO applications, including net income from buy-to-let property, existing and projected pension payments, investments such as stocks and shares ISAs and guaranteed income from trusts.

The minimum eligible age for our RIO mortgages is 55, with a maximum of up to two borrowers and up to a maximum LTV of 60%, and with a minimum property value of £125,000.

First-time buyer

We offer mortgages of up to 95% LTV for first-time buyers, including those taking advantage of the right-to-buy scheme in the East Riding of Yorkshire region, where we will lend up to 100 per cent of the discounted purchase price.

We will also consider family members as guarantors – assessing them for affordability in the same way as the borrowers themselves – as well as on a joint borrower, sole proprietor arrangements.

Interest-only lending

We offer interest-only mortgages up to a maximum LTV of 70%, subject to borrowers having the means to repay their mortgage at the end of the term.

Repayment vehicles we will accept include downsizing (for which the borrower will need a minimum £150,000 if this is sufficient to purchase another property locally), other property they intend to sell or savings or investments.

We ask borrowers to provide full documentary evidence of any capital and investments, and to sign a written declaration confirming how they intend to repay their mortgage.

Mixed-use

We will lend on semi-commercial, mixed-use properties which are a maximum of 60 per cent commercial and not in city-centre areas featuring predominantly commercial property.

Offset

We offer an Offset Mortgage facility on all our repayment deals up to 80% LTV, for any of your clients wishing to reduce the amount of interest they pay over the term of their mortgage by offsetting any savings they have against their balance.

Our application process includes an option to open an Offset Savings Account so that they can save being charged interest, at their prevailing mortgage rate on the mortgage balance, potentially reducing their mortgage term.

As no interest is paid on their savings, there will be no tax liability on the balance of their deposit

Our Offset Savings Account is flexible, has a minimum balance of £1, and your clients can top up their savings when they wish, up to a maximum 75% of their mortgage amount and up to a £400,000 limit. They can also make unlimited withdrawals without penalty or notice.

Fixed Rate - Please note: our fixed rates are currently suspended

We offer fixed-rate mortgages, periodically, for your clients who want the certainty of knowing what their monthly mortgage payments will be.

Contractor Mortgages

We consider mortgages for gig economy workers, including NHS and medical professionals, professional people on zero-hours contracts, Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) members, agency IT consultancy and nursing bank workers, those on fixed, temporary and short-term contracts, self-employed contractors and individuals working for umbrella companies.

We typically ask for a 12-month track record of employment/experience in a related field, with a maximum LTV of 80%.

We don’t credit score and instead underwrite applications on a case-by-case basis, considering each one on its merits.

Buy to let

We offer a Buy-to-Let product with a maximum loan size of 70% LTV. It is available to both new and existing landlords up to a total of three buy-to-let properties per client, and a minimum application income of £20,000 per annum.

We offer a rental calculation of 130% for basic and high-rate taxpayers at the higher figure of 2% above payrate, or at 5.5%. We also accept Buy-to-Let mortgages for Ex-Pats, who have a minimum application income of £40,000 per annum. The full list of acceptable countries is: -

• Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kingdom of the Netherlands (The Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba), Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom*, and UAE.*Does not include UK Crown dependencies; the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey).
• A UK named individual (a family member or solicitor) and their address for service of notices will be required.