"These rate cuts mean near prime borrowers and prime borrowers with small deposits have even more competitive products"
- Richard Harrison, head of mortgages at Atom Bank
Atom Bank has announced a series of rate cuts across both near prime and prime mortgage product ranges.
Rates on near prime products are being cut by up to 0.25% and 95% LTV prime products will see their rates reduced by up to 0.15%.
Criteria changes
Earlier this year Atom broadened its near prime criteria, increasing the acceptable level of unsatisfied, unregistered defaults from £1,000 to £2,500, alongside reducing the timeframe in which defaults are taken into account from three years to two.
In August, the bank made a series of revisions to its lending criteria to better deliver for these borrowers, including increasing the maximum loan-to-income (LTI) achievable on loans of up to 90% LTV to six times income, for applicants with incomes of £75,000 or over. For those looking to borrow at 95% LTV, Atom will lend up to 5.5 times the applicant’s income if they have an income of £75,000 or over.
As well as the LTI increases, Atom also increased the maximum LTV available on properties in London and the South East. As a result, for both existing flats and new-build houses, the maximum LTV has risen from 90% to 95%, while for new-build flats the maximum LTV has increased from 80% to 90%.
Richard Harrison, head of mortgages at Atom Bank, commented: “Atom Bank is passionate about going further in supporting borrowers who may have been poorly served traditionally. These rate cuts mean near prime borrowers and prime borrowers with small deposits have even more competitive products from which to choose and can benefit from the speedy service we are building a reputation for.
“We’re delighted that more brokers are now realising how competitive our near prime product is, and we are slowly becoming known as a go to for any clients who may have had some credit issues in the past and have been turned down by other mainstream lenders.
“We are committed to working closely with intermediaries to make the changes to our products and processes which mean we are easy to work with and continue to deliver for borrowers who want to make home ownership a reality.”
