Pepper Homeloans has reducing the minimum trading period for self-employed borrowers to one year.

The lender has also made a significant number of criteria enhancements to its range of residential and buy-to-let mortgages, in response to feedback from mortgage intermediaries.

The changes include the following:

• The minimum term for all mortgage applications has been reduced to five years.
• The maximum age for buy-to-let applicants has been increased to 85 at the end of the term.
• Remortgages will be considered for applicants who have been registered owners for six months.
• Buy-to-let rental income will now be taken into account as long as it is not the sole or primary income of the borrower.

Jeff Knight, Pepper’s head of marketing, said: “As we further strengthen our position in the UK mortgage market we are continually seeking opportunities within specific market niches. One such niche is the self employed and this is a growing opportunity for intermediaries.”