A guide to getting a mortgage agreed with NatWest

The maximum age at the end of mortgage term is 70. 

NatWest will consider guaranteed bonuses using an average of the last two years' payments and take 100% of it for mortgage affordability calculations. If there has been a decline in the latest year's bonus the bank may use 100% of the most recent year's bonus.

NatWest will consider discretionary bonuses using an average of the last two years' payments and use 50% of it in the affordability calculation. If there has been a decline in the latest year's bonus the bank may use 50% of the most recent year's bonus.

The bank can use up to 100% of the cash element for regular bonuses that are paid monthly providing there are three months of evidence and most recent P60. If the most recent P60 is unavailable NatWest can still consider this income but it will need the last six months consecutive payslips.  

NatWest accepts the following currencies for mortgage affordability purposes:

Great British Pound, Euro, Australian Dollar, Bulgarian Lev, Canadian Dollar, Croatian Kuna, Czech Koruna, Danish Krone, Hungarian Forint, Japanese Yen, New Zealand Dollar, Norwegian Krone, Polish Zloty, Romanian Leu, Singapore Dollar, Swedish Krona, Swiss Franc and United States Dollar.

NatWest has one of the better interest only policies across the larger banks and interest only is available to new and existing customers.

To qualify applicants must earn at least £75,000 not including discretionary bonuses, retained profits, additional income from second jobs, or any other income source.  For joint mortgages, at least one applicant must earn £75,000.

NatWest provides part interest-only and part capital repayment mortgages with the sale of the property as the interest-only repayment vehicle. Up to 50% of the mortgage can be on interest-only with a further 25% loan-to-value on a capital and interest repayment basis.

For residential interest-only mortgages the maximum term of 35 years reducing to 30 years if a loan is more than £500,000. 

Interest-only is available for property purchases, re-mortgages and additional borrowing plus porting. Debt consolidation has to be on a full capital repayment basis.

NatWest has taken a strict stance with many self-employed borrowers so applicants running their businesses will need to provide additional information.  

For limited company directors applying for a mortgage, NatWest will take an average of their last two years' salary and dividends. Directors must own at least 20% of the company.

For self-employed applicants where there has been a reduction in profits or income from the previous year to the most recent year, NatWest may use the most recent lower figure, rather than an average of the last two years.

If you have taken government support over the last few months NatWest will assess your application more thoroughly.

There must be at least 30 years left on the lease at the end of the term although the bank may consider less for properties in central London.

NatWest can take surplus rental income into account for affordability purposes if it can be evidenced by two years of accounts or SA302s. The lender will take an average of the last two years' net profits.

NatWest provides a free valuation for property purchases and remortgages where the lower of the purchase price or value is less than £2 million. Only the first standard valuation is fee-free on selected products.

The property valuation is for the banks use only so we recommend that you carry out your own checks to confirm the condition of the property before completing the purchase. This includes electrical and structural surveys. 

NatWest is still offering buy-to-let mortgages to enable landlords to purchase new investment properties, remortgage existing portfolios and release equity release from unencumbered investment houses or flats.

NatWest can use surplus personal income to boost the mortgage loan size if the rental income is not sufficient to secure a larger enough buy-to-let mortgage. In all cases, the expected rent must continue to meet a minimum rental cover calculation of 5.5% x 125%. For eligible customers earning over £75,000 the banks minimum rental cover calculation is 100% x 5.5%.

Click here to use Trinty's buy-to-let mortgage calculator.

NatWest's maximum loan size is typically £10 million on its standard mortgage products. The loan is capped depending on the size of your deposit.

NatWest for Intermediaries cheapest mortgage rate is 1.28% and it is fixed until 31 December 2022. It has a £995 arrangement fee. At the end of the fixed period, the rate reverts to the bank’s 3.59% standard variable rate, and the overall cost for comparison is 3.3% APRC representative.

This 1.28% mortgage is available for property purchases and applicants will need a 40% deposit to qualify. The rate increases slightly to 1.29% for remortgages.

Both of these mortgages are available on a capital repayment or interest-only basis.