Specialist lender West One has announced criteria enhancements on their buy-to-let products.

Among the changes are more flexible criteria around minor adverse credit. 

On W1 products, one default or CCJ in the past 72 months under £250 is now allowed. For W2 products, this can be within the past 36 months. 

Meanwhile, CCJs and defaults under £250 will not be taken into account on the W3 range.

The widening of credit criteria will enable more landlords to access the specialist lender’s most competitive pricing where they have minor credit blips.

Day 1 remortgages are now considered based on open market value, where the landlord can evidence value-adding improvements to the property since purchase.

Self-employed borrowers who are first-time buyers or first-time landlords are now considered by referral up to 75% LTV. 

They will require a two year trading history, minimum income of £25,000 and must be at least 25 years old at the time of the application.

Marie Grundy, Managing Director of Mortgages at West One, says: “These latest enhancements to our buy-to-let criteria open up greater access to our most competitive rates across a wider range of credit profiles. This enables us to serve the needs of more property investors, from first-time buyers and landlords to experienced portfolio landlords with more complex borrowing requirements.

“Following close collaboration with our broker partners, we’ve adopted a more pragmatic approach to Day 1 remortgages, using open market valuations when renovations have clearly added value.

“This is just the beginning of a series of changes we will be unveiling in the coming months as we continue our focus ondeveloping our product range to meet the evolving needs of UK landlords.”