Vida has introduced a series of residential product and criteria changes aimed at improving affordability and increasing flexibility for brokers working with a broad range of borrower profiles.
The lender has reduced rates by up to 1.06% across selected residential products, alongside a package of criteria enhancements designed to better support borrowers with complex or non-traditional income streams.
For self-employed applicants, the minimum trading history requirement has been reduced from two years to 12 months.
Those trading between 12 and 24 months will no longer need to provide an accountant’s reference with a current year projection, with Vida instead accepting three months of business bank statements and one month of personal bank statements.
Further changes include extending the acceptable age of latest year accounts from 18 to 21 months, and reducing the minimum remaining term on a contractor’s contract from three months to one month.
Vida has also increased the proportion of commission income it will consider for affordability from 75% to 100%.
Alongside the residential updates, Vida has also reduced selected buy-to-let product rates by up to 0.80% and reintroduced higher fee options across its range, increasing the number of available products and providing brokers with greater flexibility when structuring applications.
Ross Williams, head of product at Vida, said: “We know people’s lives and incomes don’t always run in straight lines, and that’s exactly why we’re making these changes.
“By improving our criteria and passing on rate reductions to borrowers, we’re making it easier for brokers to place cases with confidence.
“We want brokers to feel they can come to us first with self employed customers, contractors or anyone with a more complex income — knowing we’ll look at the whole picture, find solutions, and give more customers a simple, positive route to a mortgage.”