Kensington Mortgages has increased the maximum loan limits for first-time buyers and buy-to-let mortgages.
The lender has raised the maximum loan on buy-to-let mortgages from £1m to £1.5m, while for first-time buyers the loan value increases to a maximum of £1m from the previous limit of £500,000.
A spokesman for Kensington stated the lender is able to assess affordability residential mortgages by assessing a range of income sources from self-employed earnings to bonus income and even vested shares.
Affordability will be assessed based on the latest year’s salary for self-employed and contract workers, while applicants with a strong credit profile will have up to 100 per cent of their earned income assessed.
Steve Griffiths, head of sales and distribution at Kensington, explained larger loans of more than £500,000 are rarely straightforward and often require individual assessment by an experienced underwriter.
This will especially help those buyers looking at more expensive properties in areas like London. Andrew MontlakeHe said: “Many first-time buyers looking to borrow more than £500,000 will look to include bonus or self-employed income within their affordability and we have the expertise to properly assess all of an applicant’s income, whether it comes from self-employment, bonus payments or investments.
“We will continue to identify straight forward solutions to complex mortgage applications, and introduce more developments to our products and proposition throughout the year,” he added.
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Andrew Montlake, director at Coreco Mortgage Brokers, said this is a welcome move from Kensington, which has been working hard to improve its proposition, especially when backed up with some of their other criteria selling points.
He said: “This will especially help those buyers looking at more expensive properties in areas like London.”
peter.walker@ft.com
