Skipton Building Society has extended its standard mortgage offer validity period from six months to nine months.

According to Skipton, the aim of the extension is to give customers more time to complete their home purchase and reducing unnecessary pressure when transactions face delays.

It applies to residential purchase, remortgage and buy-to-let mortgage offers, which will now remain valid for nine months rather than six.

Additional borrowing offers will also be extended from one month to three months

Skipton Building Society head of lending Si Farrell-Roberts says: “Buying a home is one of the biggest financial and emotional commitments people make, but the journey from offer to completion doesn’t always go to plan. Property chains and legal delays can create uncertainty through absolutely no fault of the customer.”

“That’s why we’re extending our standard mortgage offers from six to nine months. It’s about giving customers greater certainty and breathing space, reducing pressure on brokers and removing unnecessary friction from the process.”

“We could see that customers with perfectly viable purchases were having to revisit parts of the mortgage process simply because their transaction had taken longer than expected. This is a practical change designed around the reality of buying a home today.”