Vida enhances affordability with lending into retirement and reprices entire range

18 October 2023

• Vida have increased the maximum age at the end of term to 80 years old
• Maximum potential mortgage term extended from 40 years to 45 years
• Rates have been reduced across the entire product range and new limited edition products launched

Vida, the specialist lender, have announced the latest enhancements to their products and criteria. The lender says that amid the ongoing challenges related to the cost of living, they want to support borrowers with affordability, enabling extended terms and raising the maximum age for those facing difficulties in securing the most suitable mortgage.
They have increased their maximum age at the end of mortgage term to 80 years old.
They will consider lending up to an applicant’s 80th birthday based on their current income, where the following three conditions apply:

1. The applicant is under 50 years old.
2. They are at least 10 years from retirement.
3. They are actively contributing to a pension scheme.
Additional applicants outside of this can be considered, but no income will be used for affordability. Repayment needs to be on a capital and interest basis.
They have also extended the maximum potential mortgage term from 40 years to 45 years.

Alongside the latest criteria enhancements, they are repricing their entire product range and launching new limited editions.

Buy to let initial rates are being cut by up to 0.70% with rates from 5.74% for five year fixed and 6.84% on two year fixed.

For residential, cuts of up to 0.55% see initial rates start at 6.79% for five year fixed and 7.14% for two year fixed.

New limited edition buy-to-let 5-year fixed products at 75% LTV. The products will have a 6% fee but with our lowest initial rates for over a year, from 5.14%. These will be available for single units, HMOs and MUBs.

All products are backed by Vida’s Service Pledge, which allows brokers to request a refund of the £180 application admin fee if they feel they have received anything but excellent service.

These changes join a raft of criteria enhancements this year linked to affordability including:
• Up to six times loan to income considered
• Regular overtime and Tips (TRONC) income up to 75% and second job income up to 100%
• Child Benefit, Guardians Allowance and Child Tax Credits considered up to 100%
• SA302’s accepted up to 18 months old
• Latest 1 year SA302 and supporting Tax Year Overview (TYO) and last 3 months' payslips will be accepted as evidence of income, for contractors working under the Construction industry Scheme (CIS)
• Greater support network considered for Joint Borrower, Sole Proprietor

Helen Cawthra, Head of Intermediary Relationships at Vida commented:

“We want to help as many people as possible move forward with realising their property ambitions at any stage in life. Affordability is becoming more and more challenging for many, and we want to try and help borrowers under the age of 50 where mortgage terms may take them into retirement, so these latest enhancements to our criteria and products will give intermediaries additional options to discuss with their clients.”