Frequently Asked
Questions

Currently April mortgages are only available to a limited number of broker firms who are members of the HL Partnership and Stonebridge networks. We will extend access to more firms in the coming months.

If you would like to access April Mortgages for your clients and you are a member of one of these networks, please contact us and we will arrange to include you in the next introductory webinar.

We have plans to expand our distribution to other members of the L&G Mortgage Club (in 2024) so contact us to register your interest.

Please call our dedicated Broker Support Desk, who are available to discuss your cases and answer any questions. Give them a call on 0333 456 0333.

You can submit applications through our broker portal. If you do not already have login details, please contact our Broker Support Desk on [email protected] or call 0333 456 0333.

Our products are all displayed on Mortgage Brain (for Stonebridge ARs) and Twenty7Tec (for HLP ARs).
Our rates can be also found on our website here.

Our criteria can be found at Criteria Brain (for Stonebridge ARs), Twenty7Tec (for HLP ARs) and Knowledge Bank (dependent on access).

Our criteria search tool can also be found here.

Please contact us if you have any questions about our products and criteria.

Early Repayment Charges are only charged where your clients choose to refinance during their fixed rate period. Borrowers can sell their home, or pay off some or all of the outstanding mortgage balance from their own funds without incurring an Early Repayment Charge. You can find our current Early Repayment Charges in our product sheet here.

Every time your clients make a repayment on their mortgage, they reduce the overall amount they owe and, assuming the property price remains the same, chip away at the LTV of their loan.

We will automatically reduce the interest rate on a mortgage as soon as customer reduces their LTV to the next pricing bracket.

Here’s how it works.

Say, for example, your clients buy a property for £200,000, and borrow £150,000, with a mortgage of 75% LTV

Over time, they make repayments on the mortgage, reducing the balance to £140,000. Based on the original purchase price, this means the mortgage now has an LTV of 70%

So, if we have a cheaper rate available at 70% LTV than at 75% LTV on an equivalent product to the one that your clients are on, we will automatically switch their mortgage onto the lower rate.

Your client can make unlimited additional payments to their mortgage from their own funds without incurring an Early Repayment Charge.

If your client would like to make an additional payment please ask them to contact us on 0333 456 1471.

If your client wants to move house, they can sell their current property and pay off their April mortgage at any time without incurring any Early Repayment Charges.

No.  But we will continue to review our proposition and will consider it in the future if we believe there is a demand for it.

No.  Under the terms of the mortgage borrowers must live in the property.

In the months leading up to the end of your fixed rate product, we will write to you and to your client to offer them a choice of new fixed rates from the same great deals we offer to our new customers.

If you, or your client, don't get in touch with us to confirm their choice before the current product ends, our Standard Variable Rate (SVR) will apply to their mortgage.

Unlike most lenders, our SVR uses the same LTV bands as our fixed rate products and, as the LTV reduces over time, the SVR automatically moves to a new lower rate as it passes into a new LTV band.  The rate will be determined by the LTV band applicable at the time the fixed product ends.

As the loan balance gets smaller over time, we automatically reduce the interest rate if your client moves into a new Loan to Value (LTV) band. Your client's mortgage offer will provide details of the LTV bands and rates for their mortgage.

As the balance decreases and enters a new band, we will automatically reduce the interest rate from the following day.  Our lowest LTV band is currently 60% so the rate will not reduce any further once it reaches 60% LTV.

If you or your client think the value of their home has increased they can request a new valuation. Or you can request it on their behalf.  We will arrange a new valuation (at the borrower's expense in line with the fee scale published on our website).

If the property has increased in value then we will use the new valuation to accelerate the reduction in the LTV and reduce the rate if it has passed into a lower LTV band.

 If the property valuation has decreased we will continue to use the existing valuation held on our platform to ensure that your client is not disadvantaged. (Please note: when advising your client you should give consideration to whether any potential reduction in repayments is likely to be greater than the cost of the valuation.)

Your client can check their current balance in our online customer portal. To request a new valuation please contact us.

Your client’s rate is locked when you have submitted a full application.  An application is only submitted when you have uploaded all of the documents request on the Decision in Principle and all the applicable fees have been paid. This includes the application fee (£195), any valuation fee (if applicable) and the completion fee (if this is not being added to the loan). Further details can be found on our Tariff of fees and charges.

Your client will need to wait six months before applying to April again.

The application fee of £195 covers our costs for processing the application and is non-refundable. We will refund a Completion fee where the loan does not complete and any valuation fee if a case is cancelled before the valuation has taken place. Further details can be found on our Tariff of fees and charges.

The application fee and any applicable valuation fee cannot be added to the loan.

The completion fee can be added to the loan but the mortgage must be affordable and will increase the Loan to Value when calculating the applicable interest rate. The Completion fee cannot be added to the loan where the maximum LTV is exceeded.

All fees-assisted remortgage conveyancing is conducted by Premier Property Lawyers.  April will pay for the conveyancer's costs.

Any fees incurred by the conveyancer, eg search fees, specialist reports, etc (disbursements) are paid by the borrower directly to the conveyancer.  You can find the tariff of Additional legal fees charged by Premier Property Lawyers on our website here. 

All DIPs and applications can be submitted through our broker portal. If you do not already have login details, please contact us.

If you have forgotten your login details this video will show you how to reset it here.

Like other lenders we will pay a proc fee for the arrangement of the mortgage shortly after completion.

Then, unlike other lenders, we will pay an additional Annual Service Fee every year from the fifth anniversary of the product start date for the duration of the product. This ongoing fee is a service fee in return for you being available to help your clients.

You will also receive an additional product transfer fee if you help your clients to switch to another April mortgage at the end of their product term.  

A full proc fee (and additional Annual Service Fees and Product Transfer fees) are payable on any further borrowing you arrange for your clients.

We pay proc fees weekly 7-14 days after Completion.  Annual Service Fees will be paid annually 7-14 days after the anniversary of the product start date, from the 5th anniversary.

Every time a borrower needs advice, we will direct them back to the broker that introduced them to April.  You just have to be there for your clients when they need your help.

The documents required are considered for each case and we will confirm what we need to see for an application when you submit a Decision in Principle. We will do all we can to not ask for anything more. Please contact us if you have any questions on the documents we ask for.

Please contact us and we will ensure we have customer consent to provide you with the information you need to advise your client.

We only charge ERCs when borrowers refinance their mortgage during the product term.  By refinancing we mean a financial (rather than life-stage or -style) choice, where the borrower pays off some or all of their April mortgage using money from another lender or changing from one April product to another April product during the product term.

Your client’s loan amount will be calculated based on household income, any other debts, assumed household costs and any significant other household expenditure.

As a longer fixed rate lender we don’t use our SVR to calculate affordability. For 5 & 7 yr fixed products we calculate affordability on the stressed payrate. For our longer fixed rate products we calculate affordability using the actual payrate. 

Our LTI limits are based on the application scenario. For purchase applications the maximum LTI is dependent on the LTV. For remortgage applications the maximum LTI is based on whether there is any capital raising and if so, what that capital raising is to be used for ie:

April define a ‘£4£’ remortgage as being one with no additional borrowing above the current outstanding redemption figure other than associated fee’s.

Where capital raising is for a number of reasons, provided a minimum of 50% is for home improvements we can proceed with a maximum of 6x.

For more details, please use our Affordability Calculator for an indication of your client’s potential borrowing or if you are registered to use our Broker Portal click here for an accurate calculation (you can also save the data here without completing a full decision in principle!)  

We only accept properties of standard contruction that have been built over 24 months ago. We do not accept: ex-local authority properties, flats in blocks of more than 10 stories (if over 3 stories must have a serviceable lift), studio flats or flats under 35m sq, Modern Method of Construction, Wimpey no-fines. Please see our criteria page for a full list.

The maximum loans and LTV’s are:

• £600,000 to 95% (85% for remortgages and flats)
• £600,001 - £750,000 to 85%
• £750,001 - £1,000,000 to 80%

The following are acceptable sources of deposit: Cash savings, inheritance, equity form the sale of current property, gifted cash deposits form close relatives.
Vendor deposits, gifted equity or further borrowing are not acceptable sources of deposit.

We're a standard residential lender and don't offer BTL, second residential properties or bridging loans. We also don't take part in any purchase schemes such as Right to Buy, Help to Buy Wales, Deposit Unlock, Shared Equity etc or any other purchase scheme.

When your client is purchasing a new property, April and your client will need a conveyancer to complete the necessary legal work associated with the transaction. April operates an approved panel of conveyancers. This panel is provided by Smoove and offers nationwide coverage across our lending areas.

If the conveyancer your client would like to use is not already a member of our panel we can consider adding them provided they are already on the Smoove panel and they satisfy the following criteria:

· Registered in England and Wales with a minimum of 2 partners

· They have adequate Professional Indemnity insurance

· They hold a current Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) or equivalent accreditation

If the conveyancer firm does not have at least 2 qualified persons we will not be able to approve the panel application and an alternative conveyancer will have to be selected to facilitate the mortgage.

Where the conveyancer meets this criteria, please call us on 0333 456 0333 and we will check whether they are on the Smoove panel. Where a conveyancer meets our criteria and is already on Smoove’s panel, they can be added within 48 hours.

Where your client selects a member of our Smoove’s conveyancer panel for representation in their purchase transaction, we will instruct the chosen firm on behalf of April and your client.

Important information
April does not operate a set tariff of fees for conveyancing work. Your client should negotiate the fees they pay direct with their chosen conveyancer.

Capital Raising is allowed in the following instances:

• Home improvements to any property owned;
• To gift to a relative;
• To purchase another property or land separate to the security, either mortgaged or unencumbered;
• Staircasing ownership to 100% including buy out of current joint owner(s) (ToE);
• Replenish savings previously used to purchase a property;
• Other personal use ie: purchase consumer goods, wedding, holiday but NOT debt consolidation;
• Purchase 100% of the freehold in a leasehold house;
• Purchase a share of the freehold in a leasehold property;
• Extend the term of the lease;
• A professional purchasing an equity share to become a partner in a new/existing business. A professional includes but is not limited to one of the following:
  • Accountant;
  • Barrister;
  • Solicitor;
  • Dentist;
  • Doctor;
  • Pharmacist;
  • Teacher;
  • Veterinarian.

• Payment of inheritance tax. No other tax bill repayment is acceptable.

Where capital raising is for home improvements the applicant(s) may be required to provide a breakdown of the anticipated works along with a breakdown of costings at the underwriter’s discretion. All home improvements need to be both reasonable and feasible.

Capital Raising is not allowed in the following instances:

·                    Debt consolidation, either personal or commercial;

·                    Speculative Investments. For the avoidance of doubt we would not consider investing in a residential / BTL property as speculative;

·                    Injection into a business, either established or new unless a professional buying equity as stated above;

·                    Replenish cash deposits unless used to purchase a property;

·                    Repayment of gambling debts;

·                    Payment of a tax bill (excluding inheritance tax bill)