LiveMore has lowered the amount of equity required for its standard interest-only mortgages by up to £91,500.
The lender has simplified the minimum equity reductions and grouped them into four regions spanning England, Scotland and Wales.
- £80,000 in Scotland, Wales, North East and North West England, and Yorkshire and Humberside
- £100,000 in the East Midlands, West Midlands and East Anglia
- £180,000 in South East and South West England
- £250,000 in London
REGIONAL VARIATIONS
The changes mean that a person buying an average property in the North West worth £231,000 can now borrow up to £151,000 instead of the £60,000 they could previously have borrowed.
A person buying an average property in the South East worth £438,000 can now borrow up to £258,000, whereas previously they could only borrow up to £207,000.
Table: LiveMore’s new and previous minimum equity rates for its standard interest-only products
| Region | LiveMore (new) | LiveMore (previous) |
| EAST ANGLIA | £100,000 | £178,500 |
| EAST MIDLANDS | £100,000 | £131,500 |
| GREATER LONDON (TIER 1) | £250,000 | £325,000 |
| GREATER LONDON (TIER 2) | £250,000 | £274,750 |
| NORTH EAST | £80,000 | £116,000 |
| NORTH WEST | £80,000 | £171,500 |
| SCOTLAND (Mainland only) | £80,000 | £166,500 |
| SOUTH EAST | £180,000 | £231,250 |
| SOUTH WEST | £180,000 | £199,800 |
| WALES | £80,000 | £139,500 |
| WEST MIDLANDS | £100,000 | £148,500 |
| YORKSHIRE & HUMBERSIDE | £80,000 | £141,650 |
Borrowing is subject to affordability, which LiveMore assesses on an interest-only basis and without minimum income requirements.
NO UPPER AGE CAP
LiveMore recently removed its upper age cap so now any borrower over the age of 50 can benefit from the above changes.
“These changes will give the underserved over-50s greater options for their home financing”
Les Pick, director of intermediary sales at LiveMore, said: “These changes will give the underserved over-50s greater options for their home financing.
“We understand that changes to lending criteria can be challenging for brokers, especially as the market continues to fluctuate, so we’ve made our product options easy to access on the LiveMore Mortgage Matcher on our website.
“It filters through 200+ later life lending products to find options that best suit each client.”
LiveMore claims that intermediaries using the LiveMore Mortgage Matcher have secured an average 41% uplift in the loan amounts they can offer their clients.
