From Monday, TSB will no longer accept income from borrowers who have been furloughed unless their employer is topping up their salary.

The lender set out the change to its criteria in an email to brokers, but did not go into detail about its reasoning.

However, amid dire warnings about unemployment on the horizon, TSB may fear that such borrowers are at a greater risk of redundancy than those who are still receiving part of their salary from their employer.

Mortgage Strategy has contacted TSB for comment.

The note to brokers says: “To make sure we are lending responsibly, we’ll no longer be accepting income where a customer is furloughed and their salary isn’t being topped up by their employer.”

TSB will still consider joint applications which remain affordable based on the other party’s income.

It says in such cases brokers should still enter the furloughed applicant’s employment details and enter their income as £1. 

The news comes after Barclays announced yesterday that it was bringing in new loan-to-income caps.