Saffron enhances affordability, foreign national and buy-to-let criteria

Saffron for Intermediaries has announced a series of criteria changes across its entire product range. The criteria changes include:

Use of pension and investment pots

Saffron has enhanced its criteria for assessing income and affordability where applicants have pension and investment pots. This means that the lender can now lend more than they previously could as these are no longer assessed using a life expectancy calculation.

Foreign national visa criteria

Saffron has increased the LTV limit for applicants on visas to 90%, from 75%. The lender also now accepts spousal visas and pre-settled status, and no longer requires a minimum remaining term on the current visa.

Buy-to-let top-slicing

Buy-to-let landlords often face affordability challenges due to Interest Coverage Ratio (ICR) restrictions, but Saffron is now improving its top-slicing criteria, reducing the ICR requirement down to 110% from 125%.

Tony Hall, head of business development at Saffron for Intermediaries, commented: “Listening to our brokers is at the heart of what we do at Saffron, and their feedback drives the criteria changes we've made today. Through our panel discussions and twice-yearly surveys, we're in tune with the real challenges they face. We know that clients' needs are becoming more complex and varied, and we believe in giving brokers the tools to meet those demands.

“These changes are the first in a series designed to help us say 'yes' to more complex cases. We take an adaptable approach to our criteria, meaning that brokers can take elements of each to put together the right solution for their client’s circumstances.”