Coventry for Intermediaries has increased its maximum loan-to-value for interest-only borrowers from 50% to 75%.

The lender has also reduced the minimum equity requirement for properties outside London and the South East from £300,000 to £200,000.

Acceptable repayment vehicles include the sale of the mortgaged property, the sale of another unencumbered property, pension lump sums and stocks and shares ISAs.

The changes follow a series of recent criteria updates from Coventry.

Last month, Coventry increased the maximum income multiple for eligible employed first-time buyers to 6.5 times income.

It also raised maximum LTVs on new-build properties to 95% for residential houses and 85% for residential flats.

Coventry Building Society head of intermediary relationships Jonathan Stinton says: “By broadening our interest-only criteria, we’re making this option available to a wider range of suitable borrowers.

“These latest changes build on a number of enhancements we’ve made in recent months, all designed to help brokers find the right solutions for their clients.”