General criteria

Acceptable deposit (sources)

If you’re unsure about whether a source of deposit will be acceptable, contact us on Broker Chat to check

Unacceptable source of deposit

• Any loans taken out by your client, except for:
• borrowing from another lender against an additional property owned by the applicant (subject to affordability and criteria)
• the repayment of a Limited Company Directors Loan. The Limited Company accountants must confirm the monies are available and there is no detriment to the company by removal of the funds. This deposit must also be keyed as savings.
• Loan from a UK Trust Fund, provided no monthly repayment is made and the only condition attached to the Trust Fund loan is that it is repayable on sale of the property. Any other form of loan from a Trust Fund is unacceptable.
• Non-UK Trust Funds
• Funding from overseas companies
• Gifts from overseas companies
• Funding from credit cards
• Repayment of a loan to friends or family – we’ll only accept this if it was repaid over 3 months ago (in this case, please key as savings).
• Funds from children under the age of 18, whether a sole or joint account holder, or beneficiary of a trust.
• Cryptoassets

Number of applicants

Term

For interest only, the maximum term that Nationwide will lend up to is 25 years (or retirement if sooner).

Otherwise the maximum term that Nationwide will lend up to is 40 years.

Minimum age

Minimum age for mortgage applicants is 18.

Maximum age

New borrowers - Nationwide mortgages must be repaid on or before the eldest applicant's 75th birthday.

For further information on Lending into Retirement, please see our Income Criteria page.

Existing Nationwide borrowers whose existing current mortgage term extends beyond the eldest applicant's 75th birthday can take out a new mortgage over the term remaining on their current loan, subject to satisfying all other lending criteria - see below.

Existing Nationwide borrowers under the age of 75 whose existing term extends beyond their 75th birthday may apply to port their product over the remainder of their current mortgage term providing:

• They don't increase the term(s) beyond the current remaining term(s)
• Any additional borrowing (which must be on new products) taken must be repaid on or before the eldest applicant's 75th birthday.
• They continue to meet our standard status requirements and comply with our lending criteria.
• They pay any applicable Early Repayment Charges (ERCs) if they reduce the loan.

For further information on Lending into Retirement, please see our Income Criteria page.

Current Nationwide borrowers already aged 75 and over may apply to port their product over the remainder of their current mortgage term providing:

• They don't increase the term(s) beyond the current remaining term(s).
• They don't increase the loan to value (LTV)
• They don't take any additional borrowing
• They pay any applicable ERCs if they reduce the loan.
• They continue to meet our standard status requirements and comply with our lending criteria.

Retired borrowers may be able to borrow up to the age of 75.

As a responsible lender, Nationwide will require details of how applicants intend to continue to meet repayments should the chosen mortgage term take them into retirement.

• The maximum acceptable retirement age is 70

If you need more information, you can contact one of our experienced advisers on Broker Chat.

Foreign nationals

The following criteria applies, including source of deposit.

Republic of Ireland (ROI) Nationals

ROI Nationals can live and work in the UK without time limits and will be treated as UK Nationals.

Non-UK / ROI Nationals

• The maximum LTV is 75% where an applicant does not hold indefinite leave to remain/settled status.
• The 75% LTV limitation doesn't apply if the second applicant is a non-UK/ROI national without indefinite leave to remain and their income is not used on the application.
• Where an applicant doesn’t have indefinite leave to remain/settled status, and has pre settled status or a points based visa, they must have a minimum of 2 years and 6 months remaining at the time of uploading the proof.
• Applicants must evidence their residency status with a stamp in a currently valid passport or a valid biometric residency card.

Source of deposit

• Applicants must be able to fund a minimum of 25% deposit from their own resources for purchases or have 25% equity in the property for remortgages/ additional borrowing.
• For joint applications, the deposit from their own resources can come from either or both applicants. For example, on a joint application with one applicant being a UK/ROI national, and the other without indefinite leave to remain/ settled status (but with one of the above acceptable visas), the 25% deposit can come from either applicant.

Non indefinite leave to remain/ pre settled and points based visas are subject to additional criteria as detailed below.

Proof Requirements

Where an applicant has a settled or pre settled status and has not been issued a biometric residency card the ‘check someone’s immigration status’ document is acceptable. This can be obtained by the applicant from the Home Office website using a unique share code issued to them.

Where an applicant is from an EU or EEA country, or from Switzerland, they won't get a card showing pre-settled or settled status. The status is only online and is evidenced using the ‘Check someone’s immigration status’ document.

The proof should be the page which shows the ‘details of the check’ which contains the following information:

• Organisation or Company name
• Purpose of the check
• Date of the check
• Reference number

If you and the applicant are unable to provide this, please provide the share code.

Indefinite leave to remain and settled status are treated as having 'indefinite leave to remain'. Standard lending criteria will apply.

Please visit our proofs section to see our proof of name and residency requirements.

Income in a foreign currency

Income paid in a foreign currency isn’t acceptable for the following new lending applications:

• Purchases (including second property types)
• Remortgages
• Further advances
• Porting with additional borrowing

Where a client is looking to complete a combination of transactions, such as a term change and additional borrowing, then foreign currency income can’t be used.

Applications using foreign currency income without new lending

• For existing Nationwide customers moving home, where no new lending is required, foreign currency income can be considered. This includes clients porting without additional borrowing.
• For existing Nationwide customers looking to change their term or repayment type, foreign currency income can be considered.
• If there’s no affordability assessment required, such as switching rates at deal end, we won’t need to look at income and therefore foreign currency income won’t need to be considered.

First payment and how interest will be calculated

Once your clients’ application is completed, they’ll receive a First Payment Notification in writing within 7 working days informing them of their first mortgage payment and when it’ll be taken from their account.

Your clients' first payment can be higher than their normal monthly payment. This is because it’ll include interest from the date we released the funds to the end of that month, plus their normal monthly payment for the following month.

So, for example if your client moves in on the 12th of May, their first mortgage payment in June will include interest for 12-31st of May as well as the standard mortgage payment for June.

Repayment Methods

Credit Scoring

All applicants are credit scored before a mortgage is offered usually at Decision in Principle stage. Obtaining a Decision in Principle will record a soft footprint against the applicant's credit record(s); it is when the full application is submitted that a hard footprint is left.

Where you are told the application is unaffordable and you do choose to proceed, the decision will result in a decline and this should only be used if you intend on subsequently appealing the decision.

For your client to be accepted:

• The credit reference must cover all addresses for all parties in the last 3 years. Applicants who cannot provide an acceptable full 3 year UK address history cannot be accepted.
• The applicant must not be an undischarged bankrupt.
• Applicants who have been discharged for at least 3 years can be considered.
• Normally there should be no history of a repossession, either voluntary or enforced

When completing a credit assessment on your client we may obtain information from up to 3 bureaus; Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. We are required to leave a footprint highlighting that we've performed a search connected with mortgage lending when a full application is submitted, this will leave a hard footprint at each agency we use. Multiple credit searches over a short period may adversely affect your client's credit rating and you should explain this to your client before submitting their application.

Any application that is initially made in joint names which results in a decline must not then be scored individually to try for an accept decision, even if either applicant in their own right has sufficient income to support the mortgage. Subsequent applications from either of the individuals may only be accepted if there is no longer any connection between the original applicants.

Inherited properties

We would usually expect to see an application for an inherited property as a remortgage transaction, however it'll generally be down to the conveyancer to advise how the transaction will be structured. Please note, if an applicant is porting their current Nationwide mortgage product to an inherited property, this will need to be keyed as a purchase as product porting is not available on remortgage applications.

Where there is an existing mortgage on the property which isn't connected to the applicant(s), this does not need to be keyed. Any mortgages that are in the applicant(s) names should be keyed to the case in the usual way.

Where the transaction is being structured as a purchase, the deposit relating to the inherited element should be keyed as ‘Equity’.

If applicants are purchasing from a deceased persons estate and they're not beneficiaries, this is just keyed as a purchase application.

The table below provides remortgage keying guidance for the most common scenarios:

Unsecured debt

Clients intending to pay off unsecured debt, that has more than six months to run, may be asked to provide proof that the debt has been paid off in full before we can proceed to offer.

Examples of acceptable proofs that may be required include:

• A credit card statement showing that the balance has been cleared
• A document from a loan company confirming the loan has been paid off

Where more than one unsecured debt is being cleared, we’ll need proof of repayment for each individual debt. Screenshots are acceptable.

If the unsecured debt is being repaid with equity from the sale of the client’s main residence, this may be acceptable.

If you need more information, you can contact one of our experienced advisers using Broker Chat.

Acceptable proof of payment history

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 mortgage statement covers less than 6 months payments and is over 6 months old, the last 3 months bank statements are required
• Where the above is unavailable an existing lender's reference is required

Tenancy payment history

We do not require you to verify past payment history for any applicant who is currently renting or has been renting over the last twelve months.

How long are offers valid for?

• Remortgage and house purchase offers are valid for 180 days
• Rate Switch offers are valid for 45 days
• Additional borrowing (further advance) offers are valid for 90 days

In addition, there is a 15 day grace period from the date of the offer expiry in order to complete. You don’t need to contact us, this is automatically applied.

New Build Offer Extensions

*Where your client is purchasing a New Build property and the offer is due to expire, you can request an offer extension of 45 days – subject to eligibility and criteria, and confirmation that your clients' circumstances haven’t materially changed. Please see our New Build page for further information. The 45 days is inclusive of the 15 day grace period applied to all offers.

Armed forces

We accept income from British Armed Forces personnel. We'll accept applications from personnel that are purchasing a property that'll immediately be let, as long as they intend to occupy the property within three years.

We'll accept additional borrowing (further advance) applications, including from those where the property is already let. Please see our how to submit a case page.

Where your client can't provide UK address history, the Ministry of Defence BFPO postcode that corresponds to their barracks can be keyed.

We support the Forces Help to Buy (FHTB) scheme, you can find more information about FHTB on our housing schemes page.

Gurkhas

Gurkhas who have completed four or more years service in the British Armed Forces should be treated as having indefinite leave to remain - proof of length of service will be required. Gurkhas who don’t have indefinite leave to remain should be treated as Non-EEA foreign nationals, but Tier 1 or 2 visa proof isn't required as they're serving in the British Armed Forces.

Ex-pats and applicants working abroad

If your client's a UK national working abroad and their family (ie spouse and children) will remain in the UK as occupiers, these normally form acceptable cases. It's expected that the spouse will be a joint borrower.

If the property will be let or left unoccupied whilst your client works abroad then the application isn't acceptable.

Income paid in a foreign currency isn't acceptable and self-employed income from outside the UK won't be considered. Applicants working abroad may have additional outgoings abroad, which will need to be taken into consideration.

All applicants must be resident in the UK for tax purposes when the mortgage has completed.

Applications can only be considered if your clients can provide a full UK address history for the last 3 years and satisfy our current ID policy, proof of residency requirements and underwriting criteria.