Darlington enhances residential and buy-to-let income criteria

Darlington Building Society has announced a series of changes to its income verification requirements across residential and buy-to-let lending, following feedback from brokers seeking a simpler and more efficient application process.

The Society has reduced the amount of supporting documentation required on a range of cases, helping to streamline applications, improve turnaround times and reduce administrative burden for brokers and borrowers.

Following the changes, employed applicants now only need to provide their latest payslip, rather than the previous requirement for two months’ payslips.

For buy-to-let applications where the required Interest Cover Ratio (ICR) is met, income evidence will no longer be required as standard. The change applies across Darlington’s buy-to-let proposition, including expat buy-to-let cases involving self-employed applicants, where accounts previously required verification.

Underwriters will retain discretion to request additional evidence where appropriate, including cases involving top-slicing or more complex circumstances.

Alongside the packaging changes, Darlington has also reduced rates by 10 basis points across its specialist residential visa and foreign national mortgage products.

The Society’s two and five-year fixed rate visa and foreign national products at 90% LTV are now available at 5.89% with a £999 fee, which can be added to the loan.

Chris Blewitt, head of mortgage distribution at Darlington Building Society, said: “One of the most useful things brokers can tell us is where a process feels more complicated than it needs to be.

“When we receive consistent feedback, we take it seriously. These changes are a direct result of conversations we’ve had with brokers who felt there was an opportunity to remove some unnecessary friction from the application process.

“For many buy-to-let cases, particularly where the rental income already supports the lending through our Interest Cover Ratio requirements, requesting additional income evidence was creating work without necessarily adding value to the assessment.

“By removing that requirement, we’re helping brokers submit cases more quickly, reducing packaging requirements for clients and allowing our underwriters to focus their attention where it matters most.

“At a time when brokers are looking for lenders that are easy to deal with, sometimes the most valuable improvements are the practical changes that make placing business simpler. This is very much a case of brokers telling us what would help, and us acting on that feedback.”