We have announced two major criteria changes across our near prime product range.

Following intermediary feedback, we will now accept applications from borrowers who have been in a Debt Management Plan for over 12 months without a missed payment, and from prospective borrowers who may have missed one mortgage payment in the last 12 months.

We launched our first near prime product in September 2017. We have since built on this initial offering to now house three products within this range. Deals start from 3.19% at 50% LTV with a £500 fee, rising to 5% at 70% LTV with a fee of £1,250. Advances are available up to £500,000, there is no credit scoring across the range and self-employed, as well as employed income, is allowed.

David Lownds, Head of Marketing & Business Development at Hanley Economic Building Society, commented:

“Supporting customers who have had a ‘life event’ i.e. redundancy or a relationship breakdown is a very mutual thing to do. We believe such people should still have access to a mortgage at a competitive interest rate and that’s why we initially entered the near prime sector.

“Following a successful launch period we have carefully extended this range and engaged with the intermediary community to implement the kinds of criteria changes demanded by their clients. Our aim is to become the first alternative for intermediaries within this sector, and we are constantly striving to better support their needs and those of their clients.”