At Nottingham Building Society, we know life happens. Unexpected events can cause financial difficulty, and a challenging period in your customers past shouldn't stop them from owning their home today.
Our 'Life Happens' mortgage proposition is built to support those customers. It’s designed for those who have been in previous financial difficulty due to a life event but have since proven their ability to manage their finances well.
Who is 'Life Happens' for?
This proposition is specifically for applicants who:
- Have experienced previous financial difficulty due to a life event (such as illness, job loss, or divorce).
- Can clearly demonstrate a recovery period and a proven ability to manage their finances since then.
- Want to move forward, not be held back by the past.
We believe in looking at the full financial picture today, not just a single moment from yesterday. To offer this support fairly, we are evolving how we look at the wider mortgage market.
We are adjusting our core lending criteria to create clear, new lending tiers. This allows us to cater specifically for a wider range of circumstances, including those with more recent, yet contained, credit issues.
Key criteria
| Core For information |
Life Happens 1 | Life Happens 2 | |
| Maximum LTV | 95%. | 90%. | 85%. |
| Mortgage arrears | Up to date last 36 months. | Max status 2 in 36 months. None in last 12 months. |
Max status 2 in 36 months None in last 6 months. |
| Unsecured loan arrears | Max status 2 in 24 months. Up to date last 12 months. |
Max status 2 in 12 months. None in last 6 months. |
Max status 2 in 12 months Currently up to date. |
| Other unsecured arrears | Higher arrears on other credit may be considered subject to credit score and underwriter assessment. | ||
| CCJs and defaults* | CCJs or defaults less than £500 combined may be considered subject to credit score and underwriter assessment. | ||
| CCJs/defaults over £500 combined. None registered in the last 36 months. |
CCJs/defaults over £500 combined. None registered in the last 24 months. |
CCJs/defaults over £500 combined None registered in the last 12 months. |
|
| CCJs older than 5 years regardless of value are acceptable. Other CCJs/defaults may be acceptable subject to credit scoring. |
Unsatisfied CCJs/defaults can be considered where applicants are making contributions to reduce these. Payments will be included as commitments for affordability. | ||
| Debt management plans | No new agreements registered in the last 36 months. | Any ongoing agreements satisfactorily maintained for the last 12 months. | |
| IVAs | Discharged for 3 years. | Discharged for 1 year. | Discharged at any time (not currently active). |
| Bankruptcy/debt relief order | Discharged for 3 years. | Discharged for 3 years. | Discharged for 3 years. |
| Please note | Applicants meeting the MCOB defined Impaired Credit History (ICH) status are not accepted. | If an applicant falls under the FCA definition of Credit Impaired, all outstanding commitments will be included within the affordability calculation, irrespective of being repaid or not. | |
Things to bear in mind
- Combined values of up to £500 will be ignored on CCJs and defaults for each applicant.
- Arrears on revolving credit will be considered subject to scoring.
- If an applicant falls under the FCA definition of credit impaired, all outstanding commitments will be included within the affordability calculation, irrespective of being repaid or not.
The FCA defines a credit-impaired customer as a customer who;
- within the last two years has owed overdue payments, in an amount equivalent to three month payments, on a mortgage or other loan (whether secured or unsecured), except where the amount overdue reached that level because of late payment caused by errors by a bank or other third party; or
- has been the subject of one or more county court judgments, with a total value greater than £500, within the last three years; or
- has been subject to an individual voluntary arrangement or bankruptcy order which was in force at any time within the last three years.
Products
| Maximum LTV (1) | Life Happens 1 | Life Happens 2 | ||
| 2 year fixed | 5 year fixed | 2 year fixed | 5 year fixed | |
| 60% | 5.89% - MJF01P | 5.88% - MJF01T | 6.15% - MKF01D | 6.15% - MKF01G |
| 80% | 6.19% - MJF01Q | 6.18% - MJF01U | 6.45% - MKF01E | 6.45% - MKF01H |
| 85% | 6.39% - MJF01R | 6.38% - MJF01V | 6.65% - MKF01F | 6.65% - MKF01J |
| 90% | 6.65% - MJF01S | 6.64% - MJF01W | - | - |
Key features
- All products come with a £999 product fee which can be paid on completion or added to the loan.
- One basic free valuation on all products; and free standard legal fees for remortgages only.
- All products are portable (subject to underwrite and valuation).
- Early repayment charges apply, with 10% over-payments allowable each year – ERCs are 1%-2% for 2-year fixed and 1%-5% for 5-year fixed products.
- £1.5m max loan up to 75% LTV, £1.0m up to 80% LTV and £750k up to 90% LTV, min loan is £30k.
- Fixed product end-date of 31/07/2028 for 2 year fixed products and 31/07/31 for 5 year fixed products.
- Products revert to Nottingham Variable Mortgage Rate (VMR) minus 1.50%, which is currently 6.35%.
Process
The system has been designed to cascade to the appropriate product based on your customers credit profile. Application process:
- Review the criteria.
- Use the linked affordability calculation to confirm affordability.
- Enter DIP on our classic broker portal (specialist residential).
- Credit check completed.
- System will confirm what product range you need to select from (Core**, LH1 or LH2), you must select the appropriate product to submit the FMA.
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