NatWest has announced a significant update for customers earning over £150,000, increasing the maximum Loan to Income (LTI) ratio for joint applicants. Effective immediately, eligible borrowers can access up to 6.5 times their income at a loan-to-value (LTV) of 75% or less.
Fourth LTI Enhancement This Year
This marks NatWest's fourth LTI enhancement in 2026, as part of the lender's ongoing efforts to maximize borrowing potential for customers. The new LTI applies to applications made from today.
Industry experts have reacted to the news, with Sarah Fox-Clinch, Director at Fox Davidson, stating: "High street lenders are now competing hard in the large loan arena, and NatWest moving its joint LTI to 6.5x at 75% LTV is another positive step. For too long, high earning professionals have been pushed towards private banks and specialist lenders by default. The larger high street names have built strong large loan divisions of their own."
She added: "High earners are good quality, low LTV borrowers, and lifting the income multiples is the simplest way for a lender to grow its book. Updates like this are music to my ears."
Riz Malik, Independent Financial Adviser at R3 Wealth, commented: "Lenders are trying to pull out all the stops to get Britain moving, and these further enhancements demonstrate how far they are prepared to go." However, he warned that stamp duty remains a critical issue: "Is it enough to get Britain moving? Not with the stamp duty noose around the neck of the UK property market. That decision needs to come from the government, and their attention seems to be diverted elsewhere at present."
Hannah Vandervennin, Director at The Mortgage Consultancy, offered a more cautious perspective: "The headline is the income multiple, but the real constraint is the 75% LTV cap, which still requires a 25% deposit. Pushing income multiples upward without loosening the LTV ceiling is moving one lever while the other stays bolted down. A higher LTV cap alongside the new income multiple would have unlocked considerably more transactions. As it stands, this is a competitive move for a narrow cohort, not a market mover."
