Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Newsroom from a report by Mortgage Strategy. Read the original article for full details.
Nottingham Building Society Cuts Rates and Lowers Stress Tests
Nottingham Building Society has reduced mortgage rates by up to 32 basis points and lowered stress rates, aiming to improve affordability for borrowers. The changes affect the lender’s core residential, foreign national, retirement interest-only, and existing customer ranges.
The lender has dropped rates across these ranges by between 20 and 32 basis points. Following these reductions, rates in the core residential range now start from 5.04%.
Nottingham Building Society states that the adjustments to stress rates reflect lower expectations for future interest rates and will enable the lender to offer more borrowing in some cases. Earlier this year, Nottingham increased access to higher income multiples and widened eligibility for its foreign national range. The lender also began accepting new sources of income, including agency and zero-hours earnings, drawdown pensions, and a range of state benefits.
Research commissioned by Nottingham Building Society found that 32% of brokers believe easing affordability requirements would have the greatest positive impact on the mortgage market. Additionally, 28% of brokers reported an increase in borrowers struggling to meet affordability assessments when fixed rates expire.
These changes may be relevant to letting agents and inventory clerks, as improved affordability and broader lending criteria could affect tenant mobility and demand in the UK property market.
Source: Mortgage Strategy