Santander will accept Universal Credit as a source of secondary income for home loans, while The Cambridge Building Society has added joint borrower sole proprietor mortgages to its range. 

Santander says borrowers who receive this benefit must also be in receipt of another source of earned income — employed or self-employed — and this must be shown on the Universal Credit award statement. 

The bank says the following requirements must also be met: 

Proof of the last six months’ payments, and 

The latest Universal Credit payment summary with a breakdown of payments and deductions. The document must show all the sections as below:  o Entitlement  o Deductions  o Total payment for the month 

The lender adds that it will not accept bank statements as proof of income for Universal Credit. 

To calculate Universal Credit income, the bank will take an average of the last six months’ payments minus the latest month’s housing benefit. 

Meanwhile, The Cambridge Building Society has added a Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor mortgage to its standard residential product range. 

The mutual says the product allows up to two occupiers to use the additional income of up to two close family members, to support the affordability of the proposed mortgage.

Supporting family members will be named on the mortgage and will be jointly responsible for ensuring all monthly mortgage payments are met.  

They will not be named on the title of the property and only the occupiers have legal ownership of the purchased property. 

The Cambridge intermediary manager Kathy Bowes says: “We’re a building society built on a foundation of finding new ways to help people have a home.  

“In addition to our shared ownership products and 95% lending, we hope that this initiative will help brokers find additional solutions for borrowers trying to buy a home”.