
Lloyds Banking Group will make an extra £4bn of lending available to high loan-to-income first-time buyers following mortgage lending reforms outlined by regulators this week.
The banking group will extend its first-time buyer boost product, which is available through Lloyds Bank and Halifax.
Since launching FTB Boost in August 2024, over £4bn of lending has been underwritten to 11,000 FTBs on the housing ladder, by borrowing more than 4.5 times their income.
The lender says it will lift the LTI to 5.5 times, increasing the available borrowing by 22% for FTBs.
It says a household income of £50,000 and a deposit of 10% will increase the maximum loan available from around £224,500 to around £275,000.
Lloyds Banking Group Homes Director Andrew Asaam adds: “Buying your first home can be challenging, but FTB Boost helps by making your income go further.
“Recent affordability changes have already started to help would-be homeowners get on the property ladder sooner, and lending an extra £4bn means we can help even more customers get the keys to their first home.”
The move comes after the Financial Policy Committee last week confirmed that large and smaller lenders would be able to underwrite more loans at over 4.5 times a buyer’s income.
The Financial Policy Committee said that large lenders will be able to lend over 15% of overall new home loans at high loan-to-income levels, as long as the aggregate flow of this high loan-to-income lending remains under 15% among large banks overall.
Previously, no large bank could top the 15% rule. This left a situation where some banks threatened to breach this level, while others were comfortably under this level.
Earlier this week, Nationwide expanded its helping hand mortgage, aimed at first-time buyers, which lends at up to six times’ income.
Accord Mortgages also lifted its high loan-to-income lending, while Santander UK head of homes David Morris said yesterday that the bank had “updates in train, which could support 5,000 more first-time buyers”.