The society has made a number of criteria changes, including temporarily suspending accepting bonus, overtime and commission income, at the height of the pandemic due to economic uncertainty.

The change comes just as the society is due to launch Helping Hand on 26 April, which will allow first-time buyers to borrow up to 5.5 times their salary on lending up to 90% LTV.

Henry Jordan, director of mortgages at Nationwide Building Society, said: “As a responsible lender it’s important we ensure that borrowers can afford their mortgage payments both now and in the future.

“At the height of the pandemic, with lots of economic uncertainty, particularly in the jobs market, we took the decision to suspend accepting bonus, overtime and commission payments.

“As we ease out of lockdown we are now in a position to relax our criteria further and support more borrowers in buying a new property.”