Nottingham BS widens affordability criteria with expanded income sources

Nottingham Building Society has widened its affordability criteria to prospective home buyers in the UK.

The society is now accepting 100% of secondary income as part of applications, up from the previous 50% threshold. The change comes after The Nottingham's research found that one in five people in the UK had taken on a ‘side hustle’ to increase their chances of securing a mortgage.  

Alongside the increase in secondary income recognition, the society is now also accepting 100% of child maintenance income, has set its pension contribution assumption to a more affordable 5%, updated its contractual car allowance acceptance to cover contractual travel allowance at 100%, and refreshed its National Insurance acceptance thresholds to the updated bandings.

Matt Kingston, sales director at Nottingham Building Society, said: “Our latest updates to affordability criteria reflect our ongoing commitment to adapting to the needs of today’s borrowers. By recognising a wider range of income sources, such as 100% of secondary income and child maintenance, we’re ensuring our criteria evolve with modern financial realities. 

“This is just the first step in our journey for 2025. We remain focused on creating innovative solutions that help even more people from diverse financial backgrounds access the housing market, and we’re excited to continue building on these improvements throughout the year.”