Yorkshire Building Society (YBS) is extending the its buy-to-let mortgage offering from London and the South-East to England and Wales.
YBS entered the buy-to-let market in August 2011 through its intermediary lending subsidiary, Accord Mortgages, initially in London and the South East.
Over the following months the lending panel was expanded as the Society gradually added further products to the range.
Jeremy Law, YBS’s head of buy-to-let, said: “We’ve taken the last few months to ensure our processes are in place and to seek feedback from our lending partners, which has resulted in a review of our criteria and a number of key changes.”
Changes to the Society’s criteria include the minimum property value reducing from £150k to £100k, the minimum applicant age falling from 30 to 25, and the lifting of a 40 mile distance from borrower to property location restriction.
In addition, broker-certified copies of documentation will now be accepted instead of original documents being required, while the minimum income for an applicant will reduce from £35k to £20k.
Buy-to-let will continue to form part of Accord Mortgage’s mortgage range, recently expanded to include 90% LTV residential loans. However, prime residential lending remains Accord’s primary focus throughout 2012.
Jeremy added: “We do not see ourselves as dipping in and out of the market, we are very much here to stay and will be an active lender in the market all year round.”
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