Accord Mortgages is reintroducing its loan-to-income (LTI) cap to five times for those on an income of £60,000 and above.
LTI caps were standardised to 4.49 for all incomes to manage service levels back in October 2020. However, Accord says its recent headcount increase has improved capacity and means this measure is no longer needed.
As of Wednesday 20 January, affordability will be calculated as follows:
- At 4.49 times for incomes less than £60,000 (as it has always been)
- At five times for incomes of £60,000 and above
Nicola Alvarez (pictured), corporate account manager – proposition development at Accord Mortgages, said: “Last year saw us introduce a number of temporary measures to help maintain service levels and ensure we could provide brokers with the best support during what were challenging times for everyone.
“The impact of these measures, along with the boosting of our underwriting and sales teams, means just three months later we are in a position to return to our standard LTI policy. This is great news for brokers working with higher income clients.”
Accord’s parent, the Yorkshire Building Society, is also updating its lending policy back to an LTI cap of five times for incomes of £60,000 and above.