Reduction aims to expand options under Helping Hand
Nationwide Building Society has reduced the minimum income requirement for single applicants under its Helping Hand mortgage scheme, lowering the threshold from recent levels back to £35,000. The income threshold for joint applicants remains unchanged at £55,000.
The Helping Hand initiative, which was launched in 2021, allows eligible first-time buyers to borrow up to six times their income when taking out a five- or 10-year fixed-rate mortgage, with a maximum loan-to-value of 95%. This exceeds the lender’s standard borrowing cap of 4.5 times income, offering a borrowing boost of roughly 33%.
Banks and building societies are subject to regulations that cap high loan-to-income (LTI) lending at 15% of their qualifying loan book. With Helping Hand enabling lending at up to six times income, Nationwide said it had to manage volumes carefully to stay within this regulatory cap. In recent months, that led to temporary increases in income requirements for borrowers.
Although the current thresholds remain higher than those seen in 2023 — £30,000 for individual applicants and £50,000 for joint ones — the adjustment aims to improve access for more prospective homeowners while maintaining compliance with lending rules.
Borrowers using the scheme are also offered £500 cashback upon completion. An additional £500 is available to those buying energy-efficient homes through Nationwide’s Green Reward programme.
Helping Hand represented nearly a quarter (23%) of Nationwide’s first-time buyer mortgage lending in 2024. The average loan for borrowers using the scheme reached £249,000 last year — 26% higher than the £197,000 average loan size across all first-time buyer products offered by the society. For comparison, the average loan in 2020 stood at about £159,000.
“We continue to do all we can to put first-time buyers first and aim to set our Helping Hand minimum income requirements at levels that give it the widest appeal,” said Henry Jordan, director of Home at Nationwide Building Society.
“Helping Hand has proven extremely popular with prospective homeowners, especially since we extended it to six times income, and we continue to provide as much support as possible, while remaining within the high loan-to-income lending regulations.
“While we are pleased to be able to reduce the minimum income requirement for sole applicants again, we want to do more and that’s why we continue to call for a review of the 15% limit.”
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