Criteria A-Z
As we manually underwrite our mortgages we’re much more flexible with our criteria than most. Using our common sense approach (and our ears!) means we can cater for a larger variety of life stages and circumstances for your clients than many other lender.
Browse criteria by A-Z below or search criteria by keyword to find what you need.
500
Criteria definition:Indicates if we can potentially consider residential applications from applicants with previously satisfied CCJs and if so what the maximum allowable value of all registered against an applicant is. For example, applicant 'A' has 3 previously satisfied CCJs in the past 6 years totaling £1,230 and Lender 'A' says the maximum value they will allow is £500 registered on the applicants credit file. Therefore applicant 'A' would be unable to apply for a mortgage with Lender 'A' at this time. Other factors may also be factored in such as (but no limited to) total number registered and other adverse credit registered against the applicant.
Our policy notes:Family Building Society can consider applicants with satisfied CCJs.
Last updated:07 November 2019
No Maximum
Criteria definition:Indicates if we can consider residential applications from applicants with unsatisfied CCJs and if so what the maximum allowable value of all registered against an applicant is. For example, applicant 'A' has 3 unsatisfied CCJs in the past 6 years totaling £1,230 and Lender 'A' says the maximum value they will allow is £500 registered on the applicants credit file. Therefore applicant 'A' would be unable to apply for a mortgage with Lender 'A' at this time. Other factors may also be factored in such as (but no limited to) total number registered and other adverse credit registered against the applicant.
Our policy notes:Family Building Society will not consider applicants with unsatisfied CCJs.
Last updated:04 November 2021
500
Criteria definition:Indicates if we can potentially consider residential applications from applicants with previously satisfied Defaults and if so what the maximum allowable value of all registered against an applicant is. For example, applicant 'A' has 3 previously satisfied Defaults in the past 6 years totaling £1,230 and Lender 'A' says the maximum value they will allow is £500 registered on the applicants credit file. Therefore applicant 'A' would be unable to apply for a mortgage with Lender 'A' at this time. Other factors may also be factored in such as (but no limited to) total number registered and other adverse credit registered against the applicant.
Our policy notes:Family Building Society can consider applicants with satisfied Defaults up to a maximum value of £500 that relate to a utility or communications supplier.
Last updated:21 November 2019
0
Criteria definition:Indicates if we can potentially consider residential applications from applicants with unsatisfied Defaults and if so what the maximum allowable value of all registered against an applicant is. For example, applicant 'A' has 3 unsatisfied Defaults in the past 6 years totaling £1,230 and Lender 'A' says the maximum value they will allow is £500 registered on the applicants credit file. Therefore applicant 'A' would be unable to apply for a mortgage with Lender 'A' at this time. Other factors may also be factored in such as (but no limited to) total number registered and other adverse credit registered against the applicant.
Our policy notes:Family Building Society will not consider applicants with unsatisfied Defaults.
Last updated:23 March 2023
No Minimum
Criteria definition:Indicates if we have a minimum income requirement for residential mortgage applications and if so what it is.
Our policy notes:Family Building Society does not have a minimum income requirement.
Last updated:31 January 2018
6
Criteria definition:Indicates if we can consider income from secondary employment and if so what is the minimum requirement (in MONTHS) that the applicant must have held the position for.
Our policy notes:Family Building Society can consider applicants secondary employment although we usually only take 50% of any second job income.
Last updated:05 June 2025
45000
Criteria definition:Indicates the minimum loan size (if there is one) that we accept for new applications.
Our policy notes:Our minimum loan is £45,000
20 April 2017
45000
Criteria definition:This criteria indicates if we offer Retirement Interest Only (RIO) mortgages and if so what the minimum loan requirement for Retirement Interest Only (RIO) applications is.
Our policy notes:The Society's minimum loan for RIO mortgages is the same as standard mortgages.
Last updated:03 March 2020
We do not lend on Ex Local Authority Flats
Criteria definition:Indicates if we can potentially lend on a ex-local authority flat/apartments and if so is there a minimum percentage in the block that must be privately owned.
Our policy notes:Family Building Society won't lend on ex-local authority flats.
Last updated:18 September 2019
0
Criteria definition:Indicates the minimum period (in months) any background properties that are Let or to be Let must have been Let for before they can potentially be discounted from a commitment point of view for affordability purposes.
Our policy notes:We do not have a minimum period a background property has to be let before it can be ignored as long as it is provably self-financing.
Last updated:14 May 2026
75000
Criteria definition:Indicates if we have a minimum property value we require for new applications.
Our policy notes:Our minimum property value is £75,000.
29 April 2026
90000
Criteria definition:This criteria indicates if we offer Retirement Interest Only (RIO) mortgages and if so if we have a minimum property value requirement.
Our policy notes:The Society's standard minimum property value is £75,000, however, RIOs have a maximum LTV of 50% Therefore, the effective minimum property value for RIOs is £90,000
Last updated:29 April 2026
55
Criteria definition:Indicates the minimum required lease remaining at the date of application we can potentially accept. For example,
The Society doesn't have a minimum lease term at application but the minimum is 50 years unexpired at the end of the mortgage term (with the minimum mortgage term being five years).
We can consider shorter leases where the purpose of the remortgage is to extend the lease on completion.
23 July 2019
50
Criteria definition:Indicates the minimum required lease remaining at the end of the mortgage term we can potentially accept. For example, Alex is looking to purchase a flat which currently has a remaining lease term of 90 years and wishes to take out a mortgage over 20 years. Therefore his remaining lease at the end of the mortgage term will be 70 years (90-20=70).
The Society requires an unexpired lease of 50 years at the end of the term of the mortgage.
02 August 2018
5
Criteria definition:Indicates the minimum term a mortgage can be taken over.
Our policy notes:Our minimum term is 5 years.
20 April 2017
No Minimum
Criteria definition:Indicates if we have a minimum requirement that an applicant must have been an owner occupier for (in MONTHS) in order to be considered for a residential mortgage.
Our policy notes:We will lend to first time buyers and therefore has no minimum requirement for how long an applicant needs to have been an owner occupier. For remortgages, we will only consider applicants who have held a mortgage for at least 6 months.
Last updated:14 May 2026
24
Criteria definition:Indicates if we can potentially ignore mortgage arrears that are historic and if so at what point they can potentially be ignored when assessing residential mortgage applications.
Our policy notes:Family Building Society can potentially ignore previous mortgage arrears that are older than 24 months old subject to a satisfactory explanation.
Last updated:25 September 2019
Affordability Calculator
Find out how much your residential client may be able to borrow. To see affordability for a Buy to Let client, use our Buy to Let calculator