Virgin Money has made improvements to its new build mortgage policy.

The three main changes to Virgin Money’s new build policy are:

Builder’s Incentives:

• Builder’s cash incentives of up to 5% of the purchase price or mortgage valuation (whichever is lower) will now be accepted.
• Any cash incentives greater than 5% will be deducted from the lower of the purchase price or valuation for the purposes of assessing maximum loan size.
• There is no change to the existing policy for acceptable non-cash incentives.

Part-Exchange:

• The purchase of a customer’s existing residence by a builder or developer under a part-exchange scheme will now be permitted as part of a mortgage application.

Offer Extension:

• New build mortgage offers will continue to be valid for six months, with a new option to extend open offers for a further six months, where the construction of the property is not completed, subject to there being no changes in the customer’s circumstances.

The changes to the policy apply to all new applications submitted from today.

Peter Rogerson, Virgin Money’s commercial director for mortgages, said: “New build is an important segment of the housing market that Virgin Money is keen to support. Following engagement with a number of large builders and specialist new build mortgage intermediaries, we have made these enhancements to our mortgage policy to provide additional flexibility for people buying a new build property.”