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"Prudent" or a "kick in the teeth"? Brokers divided on Helping Hand adjustment

ended 21. January 2025

Nationwide has just announced that, to ensure it remains within the regulatory limit for lending to customers borrowing at higher loan to income levels, it has increased the sole applicant minimum income from £35,000 to £40,000 on its Helping Hand mortgages. Newspage asked brokers for their views, how much of an impact this will have on first-time buyers and what they make of the timing given that the Government is urging regulators to relax the mortgage rules?

7 responses from the Newspage community

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Jack Tutton
Director at SJ Mortgages
Nationwide's decision to increase the minimum income for sole applicants to have access to their Helping Hand product is yet another kick in the teeth to those trying to buy on their own. It is often these people who find it the hardest to achieve their dream of owning their own home. Their decision to increase the minimum income required from £35,000 to £40,000 now means that to be eligible for this, you have to be earning more than the UK's average salary for full-time employees. This will compound the issue further for those wanting to get onto the property ladder.
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Graham Cox
Director at Bridging Hub
I actually think this is prudent. Someone on £35000 p.a. doesn't have a lot of discretionary spending wiggle room in this day and age, so borrowing at a high 5-6 times income on what is a relatively modest wage is asking for trouble. Extending credit terms so people end up in ever greater debt is not the answer, lower house prices are.
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Michelle Lawson
Director at Lawson Financial
This is a shame and a classic reason of inhibitive regulation putting the blockers on borrowers that would otherwise be good to lend to. It doesn't make sense to have a one-size-fits-all strategy and underwriters need to be left to underwrite again.
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Ken James
Director at Contractor Mortgage Services
Helping hand sweeps the rug from under the feet of many prospective first-time buyers, given that if you are a sole applicant on £35k a year 6 times this is only £210,000, then with a potential 5% deposit the max the client would be looking at buying at would be an approximate £221,000 property. I don't think that the regulatory limits would have been pushed too far on these figures, the fact that the lender will go to £750,000 at 95% lending means that only the high earners would be eligible. This is a crappy move that will hurt the first-time buyer market.
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Ben Perks
Managing Director at Orchard Financial Advisers
The average gross annual earnings in the UK are £37,430. So Nationwide have just cut out huge swathes of perspective first-time buyers across the UK. A £5,000 increase may seem inconsequential, but when it goes above average earnings it is problematic. Especially given the expected reduction in pay increases following the Budget. People can’t just nip into their head office and ask for a pay increase anymore.
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David Stirling
Independent Financial Adviser at Mint Wealth
This seems like a responsible lending idea from Nationwide. Those with larger incomes general have more disposable income and therefore access to larger income multiples on the Helping Hand deals should be reserved for people who can afford them. This maybe isn't the intended ethos of the Helping Hand scheme and could alienate those on lower incomes from the property market, which is becoming further out of reach for first-time buyers.
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Elliott Culley
Director at Switch Mortgage Finance
The Helping Hand product has helped many first-time buyers get a foot on the property ladder. Increasing the income level you need to earn to be eligible will be a blow to some first-time buyers, however it's important this product remains available and if this increase means Nationwide remain in their regualtory limits and some may still benefit then this is necessary step that had to be taken.