Fleet Mortgages has widened its lending criteria for buy-to-let borrowers, introducing greater flexibility for joint applications involving foreign nationals and expanding its acceptance of UK limited company structures.
The specialist buy-to-let lender said the latest changes, announced on 15 July, follow its ongoing review of lending policy and feedback from advisers, with the aim of helping brokers place a broader range of cases.
Among the changes, Fleet will now consider joint buy-to-let mortgage applications involving foreign nationals where at least one applicant is a British passport holder, has Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) or settled status.
Additional applicants may be accepted where they hold an eligible visa, have lived in the UK for at least three years and have at least 12 months remaining on their visa.
Eligible visa categories include Skilled Worker, Family or Spousal, UK Ancestry, Health and Care Worker, British National (Overseas), Intra-Company Transfer and EU Settlement Scheme visas.
Fleet has also expanded its limited company lending criteria by accepting company group structures registered anywhere in the UK, including Scotland and Northern Ireland. Previously, eligible companies had to be registered in England and Wales.
The lender said it would continue to lend only to UK-incorporated special purpose vehicles, with the security property required to be located in England or Wales. Lending will also remain subject to English law and legal protections.
The latest criteria changes follow a wider package of enhancements introduced by Fleet in March. Those included removing its minimum income requirement, reducing the trading history requirement for self-employed applicants and contractors from two years to one full tax year, extending the maximum mortgage term from 30 to 35 years, increasing the maximum loan-to-value on new-build flats to 75%, removing height restrictions on blocks of flats and widening its acceptable property and construction criteria.
Fleet said the cumulative changes were intended to improve affordability, widen property choice and better reflect current trends within the buy-to-let market.
Steve Cox, chief commercial officer at Fleet Mortgages, said: “The buy-to-let market continues to evolve, and we are ensuring our criteria evolves with it.
“While these latest enhancements are more targeted than the wider package of changes we introduced earlier this year, they address areas where advisers have told us greater flexibility will help them place more cases and support a broader range of landlord borrowers.
“Whether it is recognising the growing number of joint applications involving foreign nationals, or widening our appetite for UK-incorporated limited company structures, we believe these are sensible changes that reflect how landlords are choosing to own and manage their portfolios today.
“As always, our focus has been on removing unnecessary barriers while maintaining the robust underwriting standards that advisers and their clients rightly expect from Fleet.”