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
Updated affordability rates
On Wednesday 14 December, we’re decreasing all our residential and most Buy to Let affordability rates. This means that most of your clients will be able to borrow more than before, while also ensuring we meet our obligations as a responsible lender.
Our affordability and Buy to Let calculators will be updated to reflect these changes. So please use these calculators on our website to make sure you get an accurate reflection of what we can lend your clients.
Pipeline rules
Our usual pipeline rules will apply. All full mortgage applications (FMAs) already submitted on Introducer Internet by 10pm on Tuesday 13 December won’t be affected by these changes. Any FMAs submitted from 6am on Wednesday 14 December, or where a material change is made to an FMA submitted before 10pm on Tuesday 13 December, will be assessed using our updated lending policy.
Santander’s response to the Bank of England base rate change
On Thursday 15 December, the Bank of England (BoE) base rate increased by 0.50% from 3.00% to 3.50%.
Following this decision, we can confirm the following for existing mortgage customers:
Santander tracker products will increase by 0.50% from the beginning of February 2023, but customers’ payments won’t increase until March. This includes the Follow-on-Rate (FoR), which will increase by 0.50% to 6.75%
Alliance & Leicester tracker products will increase by 0.50% from the beginning of February 2023 and customers’ payments will also change from February
Santander’s Standard Variable Rate (SVR) will increase by 0.50% to 6.75% from the beginning of February 2023, but customers’ payments won’t increase until March
Alliance & Leicester’s SVR will increase by 0.50% to 6.75% from the beginning of February 2023 and customers’ payments will also change from February.
If a customer’s existing 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.
If they’re worried about how interest rate increases will affect their mortgage, they can find useful tools and tips in the ‘Bank of England base rate and your mortgage’ section of the Manage your mortgage page.
All tracker rates and reversion rates on our new business and internal transfer products will increase in line with the base rate on Tuesday 20 November.
Further information
Any pipeline applications already submitted and/or offered are not affected so you do not need to do anything.