Halifax Intermediaries – Home Ownership Boost for first time buyers

What’s new?

We are pleased to announce we have made £2 billion pounds available for first time buyers (FTBs) who need to borrow at least 4.5x their annual household income through our new proposition First Time Buyer Boost.

•New loan to income (LTI) limit of 5.5x to boost maximum loan value

•Up to 22% additional lending

•Eligibility ensures affordability

We know that one of the main obstacles for FTBs is being able to borrow the amount needed to buy their home, First Time Buyer Boost will enable many FTBs to borrow more meaning we can help more people into homeownership.

Increased maximum Loan to Income limit

For new purchase applications from Thursday 29 August the maximum LTI is being increased to 5.5x for many FTBs where:

•Total income on application is £50,000 or more

•Loan to value is 90% or less

•Not using Shared Ownership or Shared Equity schemes

Based on a household income of £50,000, this will increase the maximum loan available from approximately £224,500 to around £275,000.

How to key

There is no scheme to select for First Time Buyer Boost, the increased LTI will automatically be applied in our affordability calculation.

On a joint application only one applicant needs to be a FTB - please key them as applicant one to ensure they qualify for First Time Buyer Boost LTI.

Support

Our website Criteria Affordability, LTI and Income Multiples section will be updated with details of the new LTI limits from Thursday 29 August. From this date you’ll also find a new First Time Buyer Boost page under our Products section with further details of our new proposition.

More details

The new LTI limits will only apply to applications started from Thursday 29 August, a Decision in Principle (DIP) keyed before this date would not qualify. The increased LTI will be available on all schemes apart from Shared Equity and Shared Ownership. For applications with any element of self-employed income the current LTIs will apply. If the FTB on a joint application is keyed as the 3rd or 4th applicant the LTI boost will not be applied. For a small number of applications the level of credit score may mean standard LTIs will apply. Please key a DIP to check the maximum loan available.