Selina Finance is introducing a new referrals service alongside a range of new ‘near-miss’ referral policy areas for brokers.

As part of a package of process improvements, the lender aims to widen the accessibility and eligibility of its product range to applicants who slightly deviate from its standard criteria.

The referral service will launch in phases, with the first phase covering a range of policy areas, including applicant criteria, affordability, and credit conduct.

Of the more notable referral areas, Selina will now allow applications for cases with the following characteristics: employed applicants within their probationary period and/or under six months history in their current role; contractors with less than 3 months remaining on their existing contract; LTI (loan-to-income) greater than six times but not greater than six and a half times.

And cases where income is less than the minimum threshold (£22.5k for single, £30k for joint) and where the fees added to the loan push the LTV into the next band by up to 0.49%.

Referral cases will now show in the Selina broker portal and allow brokers to either continue and fully submit the application (with additional information required) or contact the referrals team.

Recently, Selina launched e-signatures on loan documentation (including the legal mortgage deed), enabling borrowers to complete their loans on the day of the offer.

The referrals rollout is in response to specific broker feedback the lender has received from several of its key distribution partners.

Selina head of intermediary sales Stacey Woods comments: “The rollout of Selina’s new referrals service demonstrates how we’re still listening to our broker partners and continuing to shape our proposition around them and the customer. Referrals will allow brokers to continue processing cases that are ‘near-misses’ across various policy areas”.