View here for Santander’s latest announcements. Please remember that you can access Santander products, including semi-exclusive mortgages, through our direct to lender mortgage club which pays on completion. Contact us for more information. Visit Santander for Intermediaries website
Santander’s response to the Bank of England base rate change
Following the decision to increase the Bank of England base rate by 0.25% from 0.25% to 0.50%, we can confirm the following for existing mortgage customers:
- All tracker mortgage products linked to base rate will automatically change from the beginning of March. This includes Santander’s Follow-on Rate (FoR), which will increase from 3.50% to 3.75%
- Santander and Alliance & Leicester Standard Variable Rates will increase by 0.25% from 4.49% to 4.74% from the beginning of March
If a customer’s existing Santander mortgage is affected, they’ll receive a letter notifying them of their new interest rate and new monthly payment a minimum of 5 days before their monthly payment changes.
All tracker rates and reversionary rates on our new business and internal transfer tracker products will increase in line with the base rate on Tuesday 8 February.
Any pipeline applications already submitted and/or offered are not affected so you do not need to do anything.
Residential affordability rates and Buy to Let lending policy updates
We’re making various changes to our residential and Buy to Let criteria on Wednesday 9 February.
We’re updating our residential affordability rates to reflect December’s Bank of England base rate increase.
We’re also updating our Buy to Let rental cover thresholds (ICRs) to allow us to better consider your client’s tax position:
| At least one applicant’s income tax band is 20% or less | Will decrease to 125% (was 130%) |
| All applicants’ income tax bands are higher than 20% | Will increase to 150% (was 145%) |
Our affordability and Buy to Let calculators will be updated to reflect these changes. So please use these calculators to make sure you get an accurate reflection of what we can lend your clients.
At the same time, we’re simplifying rules for Buy to Let owner occupiers. So now at least one applicant must still own a residential property (which will be checked with Land Registry), but they don’t need to be living in it
There is a new decline rule for Buy to Let applications where applicants are looking to buy a property that they’re currently renting.
Pipeline rules
Our usual pipeline rules will apply. All full mortgage applications (FMAs) already submitted on Introducer Internet by close of business on Tuesday 8 February won’t be affected by these changes. Any FMAs submitted from 6am on Wednesday 9 February, or where a material change is made to an FMA submitted before close of business on Tuesday 8 February, will be assessed using our updated lending policy.
How are we supporting the change?
Updates to the SFI website affordability calculator, Buy to Let calculator and lending criteria.