Saffron Undertakes Policy Update to Support The Modern World
01 October 2021
- Saffron Building Society has undertaken the biggest single policy update in its recent history, to bring policy in line with the modern world.
- The policy updates have been influenced by the pandemic and wider discussions across the mortgage industry
- Saffron are hosting a free webinar to educate brokers about the changes and to answer any questions.
Saffron Building Society has undertaken a concise policy review and is announcing a raft of updates that will align with the modern world, especially following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Every person in the country has suffered a little during the pandemic, especially with financial affairs. It was inevitable that the lockdowns, the closure of certain parts of the economy for periods and the uncertainty about how to live our lives safely would impact us.
Whilst every situation is different, during the pandemic period, there have been some trends that have seen those seeking a mortgage have applications unnecessarily rejected through no fault of their own. The new policy updates strive to adjust that and provide applicants with a fair, common-sense approach to lending from the society, as Tony Hall, Head of Mortgage Sales, explains:
“We don’t use the phrase common-sense lending loosely; it is part of our ethos at Saffron. We know that every applicant has their own story. Therefore, we have spent a long time improving our application process, making it easier, more efficient, and accessible for brokers to submit applications. Including the ability to submit bespoke and atypical information in support of applicants who might have a unique story we must understand. Some applications have been rejected, in our mind a little unnecessarily, because our policies existed for a very different world, especially following the effects of Covid-19.”
Saffron has today launched a set of policy changes for 2021 to make the application process fairer and allow the underwriting team more flexibility when assessing affordability for mortgages.
The policy updates that brokers should be aware of include:
- Self-employed support – the society has the option to exclude the pandemic year from affordability for businesses who traded for more than a year post-2020/21 financial year.
- Contractor support, including zero hour contracts
- A change in the Society's stance on adverse credit with discretion to accept up to £250 of unsatisfied CCJ's/Defaults
- Flexibility on acreage of land, and its use.
- Updates on annexes – to coincide with growing interest in 2021
All the policy changes are available to brokers and were recently distributed to contacts of the society. If brokers are not signed up to receive updates from Saffron, they should visit the site and sign up as soon as possible.
The Saffron for Intermediaries team is dedicating a free, live, interactive CPD webinar to presenting the changes and answering direct questions from brokers on the policy changes. The webinar is live on Wednesday 13th October at 11am and is free to join. You can register HERE.
Sign up for and read the latest updates on all mortgages on the Saffron for Intermediaries website: www.saffronforintermediaries.co.uk
