Leek United has made improvements to important aspects of its lending policy.

It will now accept income from self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs).

In addition, the affordability assessment has been removed for non-homeowner buy-to-lets. The mutual just requires £20,000 income and normal interest rate coverage.

The acceptance of SIPP income to be taken into account caters for lending to an ageing population and to those customers who have this type of pension investment as part of their overall asset portfolio.

Leek United claims the removal of an affordability assessment demonstrates a “responsive approach” to non-homeowner buy-to-let investors seeking to boost capital appreciation on a property or plan further ahead for their retirement.

John Kelly (pictured), operations director at Leek United, said: “These updates are designed to ensure our lending policies are in line with our current assessment when considering pension and SIPP incomes as well as improving affordability requirements for non-homeowner buy-to-let borrowers.

“We constantly review and respond to the prevailing market demands and our own lending strategy which these improvements take account of in a dynamic mortgage market.”

Lisa Buckley, the society’s head of sales and marketing, said: “I’m confident the changes to lending policy will be welcomed by our broker partners and provide further opportunities for them when it comes to assessing income and affordability for older borrowers and new buy-to-let customers.”