Yorkshire expands B2L across England and Wales

20 January 2012 | By Tessa Norman

Yorkshire Building Society is extending its buy-to-let offering to properties across the whole of England and Wales from Monday, as well as loosening its lending criteria.

The society previously only lent on buy-to-let in London and the South-East after entering the buy-to-let market with a soft launch in August 2011 through its intermediary arm Accord Mortgages.

It is also altering its buy-to-let criteria by reducing the minimum property value from £150,000 to £100,000, and reducing the minimum applicant age from 30 to 25.

It is also lowering the minimum income for an applicant from £35,000 to £20,000, as well as lifting a 40 mile distance restriction from the borrower to the property location, and accepting broker-certified copies of documentation as well as original documents.

Jeremy Law, head of buy-to-let at the Yorkshire, says the move represents the lender’s next step in its staged entry into buy-to-let.

He says: “We’ve taken the last few months to ensure our processes are in place and to seek feedback from our lending partners, which has resulted in a review of our criteria and a number of key changes.

“We do not see ourselves as dipping in and out of the market; we are very much here to stay and will be an active lender in the market all year round.”

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