Vida Homeloans refreshes product range

The lender has cut half of the initial residential rates, as they now start from 2.94% for 2-year fixed and 3.54% for 5-year.

Vida Homeloans refreshes product range

Vida Homeloans has refreshed its residential and buy-to-let product ranges with widespread rate cuts.

The lender has cut half of the initial residential rates, as they now start from 2.94% for 2-year fixed and 3.54% for 5-year, while fixed revert rates have been cut by between 0.10% and 0.20%. The range will also include a 90% loan-to-value product for homemovers.

Vida’s ‘Helping Hand’ proposition, where parents help children, has been widened to allow children to assist parents purchasing or remortgaging a property.

The lender has also increased debt consolidation for remortgages from 70% to 75% LTV across all tiers.

On Vida’s buy-to-let range the majority of rates have been reduced by up to 0.50%, with the lowest 2-year fixed rate now standing at 3.14% and 5-years at 3.59%.

Louisa Sedgwick, director of sales, mortgages at Vida Homeloans, said: “This is our biggest product update since our launch into the market in October 2016, and we hope that this move demonstrates our commitment to delivering the best possible specialist mortgage solutions for brokers and their customers.

“I’m confident that these updates to our residential and buy-to-let propositions will be received positively by our broker partners.

“Not only do they offer greater flexibility and choice, but they also provide genuine affordable solutions for customers. We have also taken broker feedback onboard and have worked hard to improve our service propositions to enable a smoother journey.”

On the lender’s buy-to-let range an 85% LTV option has been added for loans up to £250,000.

Meanwhile expat criteria has been improved, with LTVs for buy-to-let applicants resident in a non-EEA country rising from 65% to 75%, can now borrow via an SPV, and also benefit from rate cuts. Portfolio landlords can now bring 20 properties to Vida (up from 15), and their total portfolio can be up to 100 properties.

The specialist lender also made service enhancements for brokers. A new option called ‘application refer’ has been introduced which, if triggered, means an underwriter will review the case before the broker has to pay any fees.

Vida will also now let brokers know what mandatory documents are needed to support an application to ensure a more informed decision is given upfront.