Accord Mortgages is no longer accepting new lending applications from applicants on furlough.

Residential and buy-to-let applicants must be back at work before their income can be considered, in a move which Accord says aims to provide greater clarity and improve service to brokers and their clients.

Jeremy Duncombe (pictured), director of intermediary distribution at Accord Mortgages, said: “We appreciate that brokers find themselves in an ever-changing environment as lenders make regular updates in response to Covid-19.

“We are receiving a huge volume of enquiries around what the furlough scheme means for applications, which is impacting our capacity to write new business. To ensure we can manage service levels and continue to lend responsibly, we have made the difficult decision to simplify our lending policy which hopefully provides more transparency for brokers and improves turnaround times.”

For cases already submitted where the applicant is on furlough, additional information must be evidenced by Friday 11 September in order to proceed. Brokers with a case in the pipeline will be contacted by an Accord underwriter to discuss the next steps.

Yorkshire Building Society has also updated its lending policy and applicants must be back at work before their income can be considered.