Skipton Building Society is introducing policy changes designed to help low deposit mortgage customers including first time buyers.

The Society has announced it is increasing the maximum loan to value (LTV) for Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor/Non Occupying Borrowers, 3-4 person applications and for Family & Tenant Purchases, all allowing more options to help affordability and maximum borrowing which supports borrowers including first time buyers in areas with high value properties as a result of sharp House Price Index growth.

Details are as follows:

• Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor: increasing the maximum LTV from 85% to 95%. The Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor can reside in the property; their income and expenditure are used in the affordability calculation; they are not added to the title deeds, but they are on the mortgage.
• Non-Occupying Borrowers: increasing the maximum LTV from 85% to 95%. The Non-Occupying Borrower cannot reside in the property; however, their income and expenditure are used in the affordability calculation. The Non-Occupying Borrower is added to the title deeds and they are also on the mortgage.
• 3-4 person applications – increasing the maximum LTV from 75% to 95%. Skipton is one of only a few lenders that can take up to four incomes into account when calculating affordability.
• Family & Tenant Purchases – increasing the maximum LTV from 90% to 95%. A family purchase is where the applicant(s) is purchasing the property from a family member at the full market value. Whereas a tenant purchase is where the applicants are purchasing the property that they’re currently renting from their private landlord at the full market value.

Charlotte Harrison (pictured), Skipton’s head of mortgage products, said: “We have always recognised the importance of supporting first-time buyers to purchase their own home, and can see that with recent levels of house price growth, saving for a deposit has become even more of a challenge.

“That’s why I’m pleased to see us re-visit our approach to lending on low deposit mortgages in those areas that really can make a difference for buyers.”