Lending Criteria - Nationwide for Intermediaries (NFI)

How much can my client borrow?

We take a range of factors into account to determine how much an applicant can borrow. Our calculation aims to ensure each customer has a sufficient proportion of their income remaining, after taking account of their mortgage repayments, to cover their additional outgoings, including, on a generic basis, household and lifestyle costs.

Affordability calculator

This will allow you to check how much we might lend your client without having to undertake a full Decision in Principle which will involve credit scoring your client.

Go to affordability calculator

Accounts/Accountants' Certificate

Sole traders and partnerships - use the applicant's share of the most recent net profit figure, as confirmed by the Accountant's Certificate.

Directors of limited companies with more than 20% shareholding - use the relevant director's remuneration and any share of dividends quoted in the Accountant's Certificate. Treat remuneration and dividends as gross for tax purposes.

Drafts, estimates or projections of figures are not to be used in any circumstances

Fast Track

Applications will only be considered for Fast Track when the LTV is 75% or less.

Where one or more applicants are defined as self employed an application will not be Fast Tracked regardless of whether we are relying on their income. See above for definitions of self employed.

Applicants must be advised of our standard income and past payment history proof requirements (see below) in all cases but where a case qualifies for Fast Track, the following proofs are not required:

evidence of income or
evidence of past payment history

Please note we reserve the right to request income proofs where a case has been deemed Fast Track eligible. This includes our standard practice of checking a proportion of applications to verify income.

Where a director of a business owns 20% or less of the company they are regarded as employed and may be considered for Fast Track.

Sources of Acceptable Income

Proof of income is a requirement of Nationwide and we reserve the right to request proofs for any applications received.

Acceptable Income	Proofs Required
Annual basic pay plus bonus, overtime, and commission.	Latest P60 and payslip or current employer's reference which provides evidence of the relevant split of bonus, overtime and commission.
INCOME FROM SELF EMPLOYMENT
Sole trader/partnerships - Applicant's share of net profit	For loans of up to £500,000, accountant's certificate covering at least the last two years. For loans above £500,000, accountant's certificate covering at least the last two years, two years accounts, plus six months’ personal bank statements.

Director's remuneration	For loans of up to £500,000, accountant's certificate covering at least the last two years. For loans above £500,000, accountant's certificate covering at least the last two years, two years accounts, plus six months’ personal bank statements.

Director's dividends	For loans of up to £500,000, accountant's certificate covering at least the last two years. For loans above £500,000, accountant's certificate covering at least the last two years, two years accounts, plus six months’ personal bank statements.

INCOME FROM RETIREMENT*
State retirement pension (SRP)	Annual statement of pension due on retirement.

Private pension	Annual statement of pension due on retirement. Letter from pension provider confirming pension due on retirement.

Annuity	Annual statement of annuity due on retirement . Letter from annuity provider confirming annuity due on retirement.

Company/Occupational pension	Annual statement of pension due on retirement. Letter from pension provider confirming pension due on retirement.

Investment income	Documentary evidence of value and nature of investment income i.e. Solicitor/Accountant/Trust Administrator letters.

Dividend income from a portfolio of shares	Accountant's certificate

Dividend income from an applicant that owns a share in a business	Accountant's certificate

Income from a company the applicant owns that will continue to provide an income into retirement	Accountant's certificate

State Benefits	DWP letter.

Rental income from a mortgage free property	Tenancy agreement and latest bank statement

Maintenance	A copy of the maintenance agreement, received under a Court Order, a CSA assessment or a written private agreement drawn up between the separating parties. Note: we will not accept payments that have not been received satisfactorily for at least six months (and at the current level for three months).

*For applicants who are within 5 years of retirement, when we assess how much we are prepared to lend we will use the lower of the anticipated retirement income figure or calculated current income figure.

INCOME FROM OTHER SOURCES
Rental Income	Refer to Clients with additional properties.

Car Allowance	P60 and payslip or employers reference as appropriate.

London Weighting	P60 and payslip or employers reference as appropriate.

Maternity	Only income that the applicant expects to receive after maternity leave should be included in the Affordability Calculation and should include any additional expenses that the applicant expects to incur on her return to work, e.g. child minding. Confirmation in writing that the applicant intends to return to work must be obtained.

Carers/Attendance Allowance	Treat as disability allowance - see special circumstances below.

Fostering	Contact your service centre who will obtain advice from Senior Underwriters in each case.

Maintenance - If received under the terms of a Court Order, CSA assessment or a private agreement.	A copy of the maintenance agreement. Note: we will not accept payments that have not been received satisfactorily for at least six months (and at the current level for three months).

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES
Second Jobs Income from a second job, including overtime, bonus and commission, may be accepted if it has been received for at least six months. The latest P60* and payslip must be obtained or an Accountant's Certificate if the second job is classed as self employed. Refer to self employment criteria *Where a P60 is unavailable due to short time in employment it is acceptable just to obtain a copy of the latest payslip as income proof.

Benefits - Tax credit and allowances This refers to Working tax credit, Child tax credit, Child benefit and Pension credit. These allowances may be treated in the same way as earned income, provided that the applicant can show a letter of entitlement or other suitable evidence to confirm the amount being paid. We will only exclude an allowance if the applicant has been told that its payment will cease on a stated date in the near future. We will be cautious where payment of an allowance is subject to regular review, but if we are satisfied that withdrawal of the allowance is unlikely, we will treat it the same way as earned income in the Affordability Calculation.

State Benefits Specifically for the Disabled Most commonly Incapacity Benefit and Disability Living allowance. Any benefits paid because of a disability may be treated in the same way as earned income, provided that the applicant can show a letter of entitlement or other suitable evidence to confirm the amount being paid. We will only exclude a benefit if the applicant has been told that its payment will cease on a stated date in the near future. We will be cautious where payment of a benefit is subject to regular review, but if we are satisfied that withdrawal of the benefit is unlikely, we will treat it the same way as earned income in the Affordability Calculation.

UNACCEPTABLE INCOME
Educational grants/bursaries Family credit Housing Benefit	Income from lodgers Third jobs

Proofs

Acceptable proofs of Payment history.

Please note, applicants must not have exceeded 3 months' arrears in the last 3 years.

Mortgage payment history can be evidenced using:

The last annual mortgage statement (covering 12 months' payments)
Where a statement covers less than 6 months payments and is over 6 months old. The last 3 bank statements are required
Where the above is unavailable. An existing lender's reference is required

Tenancy payment history can be evidenced using:

A reference - where the landlord is a local authority, housing association, or commercial letting company
A rent book or bank statements covering a period of 12 months - where the landlord is not one of the above

Clients with Additional Properties

Where your client will own more than one mortgaged property on completion of their new loan with Nationwide the maximum LTV is 85%

For information about products please see our products, loan size and maximum LTV criteria.If your client owns more than one property, we require all addresses and mortgage details.

Let properties are treated as self-financing where the rent received is at least 125% of the current mortgage payments.
Where let properties are mortgage free a percentage of the total monthly rent received will be treated as income.
Rent must have been received for a minimum of one month at the point the application was submitted and we will require up to date bank statements to confirm this.
A copy of the signed tenancy agreement is required.

If the property is covered by an accountant's certificate/2 years accounts, no tenancy agreement/bank statements are required and rental income, mortgage payments and mortgage debt for the let properties can be ignored. The net profit/director's remuneration or dividends figure should be used as income.

For properties let abroad do not use or key any rental income derived from them onto our systems. Key the mortgage details onto our systems only where the mortgage is continuing (if the mortgage debt is in a foreign currency it should be converted to sterling). There is no requirement to obtain past payment history proof for foreign currency mortgages but normal requirements apply to mortgages in sterling secured on properties abroad.