Accord Mortgages has moved to change its loan-to-income (LTI) caps to a standard 4.49 times across all incomes.

The lender, and its parent, the Yorkshire Building Society, will lower the cap on Wednesday 21 October.

It said the move was being made in order to maintain service levels and allow the intermediary lender to retain the broadest range of products possible.

At present, affordability is already calculated at a maximum of 4.49 times for incomes less than £60,000, but for incomes of £60,000 and above, the cap is five times the income.

The temporary changes will only impact new business and new applications for additional loans. Pipeline cases will not be affected, even if there is a material change to the application.

Jeremy Duncombe, director of intermediary distribution at Accord Mortgages said: “Our priority is ensuring we can continue to offer a high level of support to brokers within the current environment. By making this adjustment to LTIs, we can manage volume and increase capacity to support brokers with a wider range of products.

“Whilst a difficult decision to make, by honouring all our pipeline cases we hope the impact to brokers and customers will be limited. We will continue to review the situation and reinstate the higher cap as soon as possible.”