Accord Mortgages has announced it is to make new changes to its buy-to-let (BTL) criteria to provide more support to landlords.

From Wednesday this week, the intermediary-only lender is removing the need for landlords to have a minimum background income of £25,000. Income will still be verified in some circumstances however, such as where top slicing is being used or to validate tax status for some lower rate taxpayers.

On a case-by-case basis, Accord also confirmed it will now consider lending to first-time buyers who want to become landlords. The lender is encouraging brokers to speak to their business development manager if they have a case where it makes sense to buy a rental property as a first step on the housing ladder.

The changes, which are to see underwriters given more discretion to evaluate cases on their merit, will improve the application process for brokers and clients who otherwise meet Accord’s lending criteria.

“These latest criteria changes reflect our commitment to investing in our BTL proposition to make it easier for brokers and their landlord clients to do business with us,” Accord senior manager for new propositions, Nicola Alvarez, commented.

“Removing minimum income requirements and considering cases where first-time buyers want to become landlords demonstrates our approach to common-sense lending and means we’re able to extend our offering to brokers and ultimately support more people on to the property ladder.”

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