West One Loans has cut rates by up to 20 basis points on all lifetime trackers in its Platinum range as part of a revamp of its residential offering.

The specialist lender’s lifetime tracker range now starts at base rate plus 2.00%.

In addition, West One has increased its maximum loan-to-value (LTV) from 70% to 75% for all its ‘Platinum’ products, including its trackers, two and five year fixed-rate products.

At the same time, it has reduced the number of LTV bands in its Platinum range from five to two. Products are now available up to 55% and 75% LTV.

The range has its own criteria, which includes:

• Maximum loan size of £1m (Max £500k for unencumbered properties)
• Maximum LTV of 75%
• Maximum LTI of 4.5 times income
• Interest only available up to 65% LTV (up to 70% by referral)
• Mortgage/secured arrears – 0 in last 12 months, allowing for one missed payment in the last 24 months
• CCJs and defaults – 0 in 24 months

West One also recently announced the decision to introduce new flat-fee structure in replace of its previous percentage-based model. It says the change benefits the vast majority of borrowers with arrangement fees fixed between £995 and £2,995, depending on the loan size.

Marie Grundy, managing director of West One’s residential mortgage and second charge divisions, said: “We have made a series of adjustments to our unique ‘Platinum’ range to further enhance the competitiveness of our residential mortgage range.

“In order to deliver on our promise to help borrowers underserved by high-street lenders, we will continue to fine-tune products in response to customer needs and market changes.

“We want to support as many homeowners who are not strictly considered ‘prime’ customers and we hope these changes will help us to do that.

“We have the strength of funding, in-house expertise and distribution channels to become the specialist lender of choice for residential borrowers and we will work hard to achieve
that.”