Barclays has enhanced its affordability assessment for both residential and Buy to Let (BTL) products, meaning many customers will be able to borrow more when buying a home.
Residential
Residential mortgage customers on a 85% LTV product or lower will be subject to a reduced minimum stress rate. Additionally, income multiples for applicants jointly earning between £35,000 and £75,000 gross per year have been increased.
Buy to let
A dynamic stress rate has been introduced for BTL customers, calculated as a fixed margin above the chosen product rate. Assessments will therefore more closely reflect a borrowers’ circumstances while continuing to prioritise responsible lending. BTL customers will potentially be able to borrow up to £20,000 more under the new affordability calculations. Barclays has updated its buy to let affordability calculator accordingly.
These changes follow a range of enhancements to affordability criteria by Barclays aimed at homebuyers, including cutting stress rates and increasing maximum loan amounts for high LTV purchases across all of its mortgages.
