Vida Homeloans has announced an overhaul of its product range, which it says is the biggest change to its offering since launching into the market in October 2016.
Vida has introduced major criteria changes to its residential and buy-to-let product ranges, pricing reductions, along with service changes.
Vida’s residential range now includes a 90% loan to value (LTV) product for home movers and a number of changes to buy-to-let including 85% loan to value.
Vida’s ‘Helping Hand’ proposition, parents helping children has now been widened to allow children to assist parents purchasing or remortgaging a property. The lender has also increased debt consolidation for remortgages from 70% to 75% LTV across all tiers.
Half of the initial residential rates have been cut, some by up to 0.35 percentage points.
Rates start from 2.94% for two-year fixes and 3.54% for five-year fixes.
Revert rates have been cut by between 0.10 and 0.20 percentage points.
On Vida’s buy-to-let range, a new 85% LTV option has been added for loans up to £250,000. Expat criteria has also been improved with LTVs for buy-to-let applicants resident in a non-EEA country rising from 65% to 75%, can now borrow via an SPV, and also benefit from rate cuts.
Portfolio landlords can now bring 20 properties to Vida (up from 15), and their total portfolio can be up to 100 properties.
the majority of buy-to-let rates have been reduced by up to 0.50 percentage points, with the lowest two-year fixed rate now stands at 3.14%, and five-years at 3.59%.
The specialist lender has also made various service enhancements for brokers. A new option called ‘Application Refer’ has been introduced which, if triggered, means an underwriter will review the case before the broker has to pay any fees. Vida will also now let brokers know what mandatory documents are needed to support an application to ensure a more informed decision is given upfront.
Louisa Sedgwick (pictured), director of sales, mortgages at Vida Homeloans, said: “This is our biggest product update since our launch into the market in October 2016, and we hope that this move demonstrates our commitment to delivering the best possible specialist mortgage solutions for brokers and their customers.”
“I’m confident that these updates to our residential and buy-to-let propositions will be received positively by our broker partners. Not only do they offer greater flexibility and choice, but they also provide genuine affordable solutions for customers. We have also taken broker feedback onboard and have worked hard to improve our service propositions to enable a smoother journey.”