Barclays has eased its loan-to-income (LTI) criteria and will now lend up to five times earnings for those borrowing smaller sums.
The threshold at which the five times income multiple cap applies has been reduced to aggregate lending above £200,000.
Previously the higher cap only applied for balances in excess of £300,000.
All other income multiple limits remain unchanged.
While the new policy will allow increased borrowing above £200,000 the lending will be subject to the usual affordability assessments and must match the client’s borrowing needs.
A Barclays spokesman said: “Following a regular review of our lending criteria we have decided to broaden our policies.
“This change builds on our recent expansion of our affordability criteria and interest-only offerings to help more customers, whether they are buying a home or remortgaging from another lender.”
Criteria changes:
Category |
Maximum LTI limit |
Maximum standard income multiple for aggregate lending >£200,000 (NEW) |
5.00x
|
Maximum standard income multiple for aggregate lending <=£200,000 |
4.49x |
LTV greater than 85% and income >£50,000 |
4.49x |
Help to Buy and Family Springboard lending schemes |
4.40x |
LTV greater than 85% and income <=£50,000 |
4.00x |
Debt to income ratio >=20% |
4.00x
|