Darlington Building Society has announced a series of changes to its income verification requirements across residential and buy-to-let lending following feedback from brokers.
It said the changes were “practical” and would help mortgage advisers in simplifying the way they place business.
Effective immediately, the society has reduced the amount of supporting documentation required for buy-to-let investors, helping to streamline applications, improve turnaround times, and reduce administrative burden for brokers and borrowers.
The update includes requiring employed applicants to only provide their latest payslip, rather than the previous requirement of two months’ payslips, and allowing underwriters to retain discretion to request additional evidence where appropriate.
It will also mean that income evidence will no longer be required as standard for BTL applications where the required interest cover ratio is met.
Darlington Building Society head of mortgage distribution, Chris Blewitt, said: “One of the most useful things brokers can tell us is where a process feels more complicated than it needs to be.
“When we receive consistent feedback, we take it seriously. These changes are a direct result of conversations we’ve had with brokers who felt there was an opportunity to remove some unnecessary friction from the application process.”
Additionally, the building society detailed that its update applies across its BTL proposition, including expat buy-to-let cases involving self-employed applicants, where accounts previously required verification.
“For many buy-to-let cases, particularly where the rental income already supports the lending through our ICO requirements, requesting additional income evidence was creating work without necessarily adding value to the assessment,” Blewitt continued.
By removing that requirement, he said Darlington was helping brokers submit cases more quickly, reducing packaging requirements for clients and allowing the team’s underwriters to focus their attention where it matters most.
Blewitt added: “At a time when brokers are looking for lenders that are easy to deal with, sometimes the most valuable improvements are the practical changes that make placing business simpler.
“This is very much a case of brokers telling us what would help and us acting on that feedback.”
tom.dunstan@ft.com
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