The lender has adjusted its household expenditure estimates which it claims will make its mortgages more accessible to borrowers.
Accord has said it will take “a more pragmatic view” of prospective borrowers’ expenditure when assessing affordability in a bid to improve approval rates.
The intermediary-only lender, which is part of the Yorkshire Building Society Group, has adjusted its household expenditure estimates which it claims will make its mortgages more accessible to borrowers.
Charles Canning, managing director at Accord, said the changes have been carefully considered and while Accord aims to take a more pragmatic view of borrower spending, “as a responsible lender it will continue to ensure customers will comfortably afford their monthly repayments”.
He said: “We’ve taken on board broker feedback and made adjustments to our affordability criteria which will now enable us to help a broader range of customers to buy a home, and offer some borrowers a larger loan size.
“We believe that it is important to take a common sense approach to lending and we will continue to thoroughly assess each application because it’s not in anyone’s interest for a borrower to be approved for a mortgage that they are unable to repay.
“Our changes to affordability will make it easier for brokers to position a case, and increase the chances of an application being accepted.”
Nicci Pegg, broker at Prolific Mortgage Finance, said: “This is great news and a positive move for Accord.
“Accord now provides a more viable option to clients, its strong affordability assessment and competitive pricing make it a worthy contender amongst many other key lenders.”
