Kensington goes paperless

Intermediaries are able to scan and upload documents directly onto the lender’s online portal rather than post them.

Kensington has moved to paperless application processing.

Intermediaries are able to scan and upload documents directly onto the lender’s online portal rather than post them.

Steve Griffiths, head of sales and distribution at Kensington, said: “Placing a complex mortgage application doesn’t have to be complicated.

“At Kensington, we recognise that real life isn’t always straight forward, so we work hard to make our policy and process as easy as possible for our intermediaries.

“All of our lending policy is available for brokers to read online and, with paperless application processing, it is now possible for a broker to submit a full application to Kensington without going near a post box.”

On buy-to-let Kensington has revised its requirements so applicants must be an existing residential homeowner for 12 months unless they own four or more buy-to-let properties for longer than 12 months. A minimum income is only required for applicants who do not currently own a buy-to-let.

On income requirements for older borrowers Kensington is still able to lend up to the age of 75 at the end of the term and where a customer is borrowing beyond the age of 70 or their anticipated retirement age (whichever is the earliest) future retirement income will need to be evidenced.

For self-employed customers who choose to support their application with verified accounts, Kensington has expanded the number of accountants and bookkeeping professional bodies from which it can consider verification.

There are now eight acceptable professional bodies, including the Institute of Financial Accountants, Association of Authorised Public Accountants and Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.