"In the current economic climate, many more people are not only earning their living in a variety of different ways, but borrowing well into retirement too."
- Rob Ford, head of mortgage origination at Hodge
Hodge is changing the criteria on its 50+ and retirement interest-only mortgage products to help more customers with diverse income streams borrow into retirement.
The specialist lender is making a series of changes to support 50+ customers with variable earnings, helping more borrowers access its range of later life mortgages.
These changes include the acceptance of 100% of non-contractual income streams including commission, bonus/overtime and 1 year’s trading accounts, or the latest years where customers have been trading for more than two years, regardless of LTV.
Affordability for fixed term contractors will be assessed on 48 weeks’ pay (up from 46). There are no minimum income requirements for experienced contractors and the accepted gap between contracts has been increased from six weeks up to three months. Retained profits and a day one day rate will also be accepted for 50+ and RIO applications moving forward, subject to assessment.
Emma Graham, business development director at Hodge, said: “Hodge has been steadily developing its range of lending products over a number of years to help give more professionals with less conventional earning patterns enhanced borrowing power. This is not always possible on the high street.
“We have been assessing cases where diverse and variable income streams are involved for some time and have built a strong reputation as a market leader in specialist lending."
Rob Ford, head of mortgage origination, added: “Underpinning this are our highly experienced underwriters who manually underwrite applications, with each case being assessed on its own merits.
“What we know from all of our work to date is, in the current economic climate, many more people are not only earning their living in a variety of different ways, but borrowing well into retirement too.
“Taking the step to support borrowers with diverse income streams who are aged 50 and above, and broadening the range of borrowing options available to them into later life is the logical next step for Hodge.”
