Halifax Intermediary News

Please see our website Criteria page for more details on self-employed incomes.

From Tuesday 30 April, we've increased the maximum loan to value (LTV) on our part interest-only / part capital repayment mortgages from 75% to 85%.

This change will enable customers who are taking some of their borrowing on an interest-only basis to borrow at an overall higher LTV.

The maximum loan amount available on pure interest-only remains as 75%, subject to full criteria. The maximum amounts allowed on interest-only for sale of mortgaged property (SOMP) remain unchanged.

The change only applies for applications started from Tuesday 30 April. If an application was started before this date, even if just a Decision in Principle or Illustration was keyed, the change will not apply.

There are no other changes to our interest-only criteria. Our website criteria will be updated shortly.

From Monday 18 March, the maximum working age will change on certain applications where specific criteria is met.

We will continue to support the majority of customers, subject to a successful application, with borrowing up to the age of 75. A maximum working age of 70 will apply to:

• Remortgage applications with any capital raising / additional borrowing
• Some purchase and remortgage applications because of the level of credit score achieved and overall credit profile.

These changes have been made as part of a regular review of our lending criteria and will ensure we can continue to lend responsibly to a broad range of customers. For all other applications we will continue to use a maximum working age of 75.

If a term past 70 years of age is selected for an application restricted to a maximum working age of 70 a Corrective Action message will show at Decision in Principle (DIP):

‘As the maximum working age on this application is 70 the term chosen extends into retirement, anticipated retirement income must be keyed or the term reduced to a maximum of … (years)'

There are no other changes to our policy and all customers should consider the sustainability of their occupation and the plausibility of working to their anticipated retirement age. Customers should be able to maintain their income position at the point of application to the end of the mortgage term and understand the risks if this proves not possible.

This change applies to applications started from Monday 18 March. If an application was started before this date, even if just a DIP was keyed, the previous policy will apply. This change does not apply to product transfer or further advance applications.

Please note on Monday 18 March, the Customer Working Age Form (PDF, 3.6MB) held on our website Literature page will be updated and the latest version of this form should then be used.

Our website Criteria Maximum Working Age section will be updated from Monday 18 March.

In Wales, for properties in buildings that are five storeys or higher we will no longer require an External Wall System (EWS1) form in order to progress an application.

Please see our EWS1 and Cladding Criteria section for further details. 

From Thursday 15 February, we are expanding our Shared Ownership proposition by reducing the minimum share the customer must be purchasing for New Build properties from 25% to 20%. This will help more customers commence a home ownership journey using a Shared Ownership scheme.

The minimum customer share for purchase of an existing home (not New Build) through a Shared Ownership resale scheme, or for remortgages remains as 25%.

Our website Criteria ‘Shared Ownership’ section has been updated.

From Wednesday 24 January, we are reducing the minimum income requirement that is applied as part of our non-UK criteria, which means some additional customers can be considered for a mortgage without a requirement for proof of permanent right to reside.

The minimum income requirement will now be:

• Sole applicant with an income of £75,000 or more OR 
• Joint applicants where one applicant has an income of £75,000 or more, or where the combined income of both applicants is £100,000 or more 
• Additionally, we will now use the total of all earned incomes towards this income requirement. 

As before proof of permanent right to reside is not required for any non-UK nationals where:

• The customer (or either customer on a joint application) has lived in the UK for more than 5 years  OR
• Loan to Value is lower than or equals 75%  OR
• The customer(s) meet the minimum income requirement.

Our website Criteria Non UK Nationals section will be updated Wednesday 24 January.

Following your feedback we are improving the process for customers who have two separate products both ending within the six month PT future dating window. 

The new process being introduced will offer you the option to select the same new product for both PTs i.e. we will honour the product secured on the first PT for the second PT. 

The first PT application should be keyed online as normal, but you will need to call for us to key the same product for the second PT. 

Please see our Product transfer page for full details of the process to be followed. 

To help ensure Shared Ownership applicants receive the most accurate mortgage offer for their circumstances, we are introducing a route to verify that the rental amount to be paid is lower than that assumed in our affordability calculation. This may enable some applicants to achieve a higher maximum loan amount.

From Friday 10 November, a new message will show on the Shared Ownership applications where we may be able to review the maximum loan showing as available:

1. The new message will show at Decision In Principle (DIP) stage:
   
   The maximum mortgage amount assumes a higher shared ownership rental amount than keyed; a review of the maximum loan available may be considered with proof of the rental amount to a Key Information document or Memorandum of Sale.
   
   
2. Proceed to full application and upload proof of the Shared Ownership rental payment i.e. Key Information document or Memorandum of Sale.
   
   
3. We will review the application and advise if the loan amount requested is available or, if not, what the maximum loan amount would be.

You can use our affordability calculator to give an indication whether an increased loan amount may be considered. Please continue to key the Shared Ownership rental payment in the ‘Credit commitment monthly payments to remain’ on the calculator.

We will also now verify the Shared Ownership rental amount for all non-new build properties. For applications accepted at DIP stage, the above message will show at full application stage and the same process including uploading proof of the rental payment should be followed.

This new process applies to applications started from Friday 10 November, and only when the new message shows. Proof of Shared Ownership rental payments is only required where requested and should not be uploaded for any other applications.

Please see our Criteria page for more information on Shared Ownership.