The Times - Borrowers may face 'stress' tests - January 2014
New rules will enable lenders to scrutinise applicants' monthly expenditure more closely
The changes will mean further scrutiny of monthly expenditure.
Aaron Strutt at Trinity Financial, a broker, says: "While lenders are already using affordability calculators as they become more risk-averse, from April they are likely to examine your finances in more detail as they come under an even more watchful eye from the regulator.
Strutt says: "Some lenders already go through bank statements and try to spot any payments that have not been declared on an application. If a regular transaction is spotted it may well reduce the amount you can borrow. After April they will all be doing whatever it takes to make sure they can verify income and expenditure.
"Lenders are even tapping into records at Revenue & Customs to check income figures. Barclays is cross-referencing applicants' incomes with HMRC and some of the other banks are thinking about using similar methods. The lenders have to verify income figures and HMRC offers a way to ensure they are correct."
Click here to view the full story in The Times £
January 24, 2014
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