Here is the latest update from the Saffron Building Society. For details see their latest product information here. Lending criteria details are available here. Remember, you can access these products through our direct to lender mortgage club to get the benefits of payment on completion as well as out specialist mortgage support.
Saffron Announcement
In our last Broker Brief, we explored how our new Premier Income and Expat Residential products are helping brokers serve high earners and globally mobile professionals. Now, we’re zooming in on the foundation of great lending: criteria that move with the market.
Our latest updates fine-tune key areas of affordability and eligibility, giving brokers more ways to say “yes” to complex clients, while maintaining responsible, sustainable underwriting.
We’ve reduced our stress rate from reversion +2% to +1%, unlocking up to £25,000 in additional borrowing potential for some clients. We’ve also updated our affordability model in line with the latest ONS cost-of-living data, providing a more accurate reflection of real household budgets and enhancing fair access to borrowing.
Our Professional Income Boost product now supports self-employed professionals with more than two years’ trading history and includes a wider range of accepted qualifications, now extending to the Society of Actuaries, Chartered Institute of Taxation, and Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT/MAAT/FMAAT).
This makes the product even more inclusive for accountants, actuaries, and tax specialists whose incomes reflect strong professional progression, aligning with the real-life earning potential of modern experts.
Contractors with two or more years of continuous experience are now eligible for our standard Owner Occupied range, previously limited to those under specialist criteria. This change creates greater flexibility for modern professionals working on a project, day-rate, or fixed-term basis.
For more bespoke cases, such as contractors with gaps in their work history or under two years’ experience, our Contractor range remains available to provide additional flexibility.
Our FTB JBSP product now allows up to two owner-borrowers and two supporter-borrowers, aligning it with our expanded residential JBSP proposition. This enhancement gives families more ways to combine incomes responsibly and make ownership achievable for first-time buyers. The product is also open to home movers and remortgagers and crucially, terms are based on the owner occupier’s age when supporters are under the age of 70 at application.
Each of these refinements adds up – building stronger, fairer, and more flexible lending, brick by brick. Whether it’s through smarter affordability modelling, broader eligibility, or inclusive professional recognition, we’re making it easier for brokers to place complex cases with confidence.
To explore these updates in full and learn more about how they could support your client’ needs, visit our website or speak with your BDM today.
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