As of Monday 6 August 2018, we will be making some changes to our lending policy. A summary of the main changes are shown below:
Changes to property criteria
| What | From | To |
| Leasehold term | Minimum 75 years unexpired | Minimum 120 years unexpired |
| Acceptable land size | Maximum of 20 acres | Maximum of 3 acres |
| Approved repair schemes authorised by PRC homes | Refer | Not acceptable |
| Cross wall construction | Refer | Not acceptable |
| Properties within 75 metres of pylons overhead power cables and/or mobile phone masts | Refer | Not acceptable |
| Properties with an annexe or self-contained accommodation | Refer | Not acceptable |
| Properties adjacent to commercial premises or in a predominantly commercial location | Refer | Not acceptable |
| Studio flats | Refer | Not acceptable |
| Flat roofs in good condition | Refer | Acceptable up to 25% flat roof Not acceptable if 100% flat roof Refer if between 26%-99% flat roof |
| Thatched roofs | Acceptable | Refer |
| Ex Local Authority Houses | Acceptable | Minimum valuation £100,000 |
| Properties with 5-7 bedrooms | Acceptable | Refer |
| Properties with more than 7 bedrooms | Acceptable | Not acceptable |
Changes to borrower criteria
| What | From | To |
| CCJ’s /Debt Management Plans/IVAs | No set policy | Defined limits – considered subject to a maximum of 5 unsatisfied CCJ’s, subject to a total maximum amount of £20,000. |
| Ownership | Practice of allowing a borrower to be removed from the title to qualify for age criteria | All registered owners of the property must be party to the mortgage. Cannot accept if registered owners wish to sign over their interest for equity release to proceed |
| Proof of Address | No set policy | Required if the borrowers are not listed on the voters roll |
New/formalised criteria
- Customer(s) must be resident in the UK for the last three years prior to application
- For all leasehold property, the maximum value of acceptable ground rent cannot exceed 0.1% of the current market value
- The maximum value of acceptable ground rent and service charge on a combined basis cannot exceed 1.5% of the current market value
Please also note that from Monday 6 August 2018, we will no longer be issuing a copy of the valuation report with the offer documents.
Our revised ‘Acceptable Properties Guide’ will be available from Monday 6 August 2018 and can be found here:
https://www.justadviser.com/support/product-literature/lifetime-mortgages-literature/
When will these changes take effect?
These changes will be implemented as at 9am on Monday 6 August 2018.
What will happen to pipeline cases?
All new quotes received from Monday 6 August 2018 will need to adhere to the new policy.
For pipeline quotes, applications must be received by Monday 13 August 2018 to secure the previous lending criteria. All applications received after this date will need to adhere to the new policy.
Just a click or call away
If you have any further questions on the information above or would like to discuss a specific case, please contact our customer care team on 0345 302 2287 or by email at support@wearejust.co.uk.
