Heron Financial arranged a £607,000 mortgage at 85% LTV for a home mover in Kent, purchasing a £715,000 new-build detached house. The £107,000 deposit was made up of £80,000 from the sale of the existing home and £27,000 in personal savings. The case needed a lender comfortable with new-build at a higher loan size and a home-mover profile. Heron Financial placed the case with HSBC on a fixed rate at 4.03%, and the mortgage completed in December 2025.
The client
The client was a home mover working as an infrastructure engineer, moving up the property ladder into a new-build detached house in Kent. They were selling their existing home and rolling £80,000 of sale proceeds into the deposit, topped up with £27,000 of personal savings to reach a 15% deposit on a £715,000 purchase.
They came to Heron Financial wanting strong pricing on what was a meaningful step up in property value. New-build at higher loan sizes attracts more lender scrutiny than the usual first-time buyer new-build case, and the brief was to land the case with a mainstream lender on terms that reflected the clean profile underneath.
The case at a glance
- Buyer: Solo home mover, employed
- Nationality: British
- Occupation: Engineer
- Property type: New-build detached house
- Location: Kent
- Purchase price: £715,000
- Deposit: £107,000 total, £80,000 from property sale plus £27,000 personal savings (15%)
- Loan amount: £607,000
- LTV: 85%
- Lender: HSBC for Intermediaries
- Product: Fixed Rate at 4.03%
- Repayment method: Capital and interest
- Completion: December 2025
The challenge
On the surface this looks like a standard home move. The bits that needed real attention sit underneath.
Higher loan size at 85% LTV. A £607,000 loan is well above the average UK mortgage. Not every lender is comfortable lending over £600,000 at 85% LTV without additional checks, and the affordability requirements tighten as loan size climbs.
New-build at higher value. New-build properties face stricter lender criteria than second-hand stock, site percentage exposure limits, builder reputation, valuation against the open market, and warranty requirements all come into play. At £715,000 the property is squarely in “premium new-build” territory where some lenders cap their LTV more tightly.
Affordability on a single income. A £607,000 loan on a solo borrower needs a strong income and a lender comfortable applying the right income multiple. The case had to stand up on the client’s own income, without a second applicant to lean on.
Sale equity coordination. The £80,000 sale proceeds needed to flow cleanly from the sale completion into the purchase deposit, with timings aligned across the chain so there were no bridging requirements in the middle.
New-build offer validity. New-build mortgage offers often need to remain valid through to a builder’s longstop completion date, which can be months ahead of reservation. Lender choice needed to accommodate the new-build timetable.
How Heron Financial approached the recommendation
The Heron adviser worked the case across four fronts in parallel: lender fit for the loan size, lender fit for the new-build, affordability, and product choice.
Lender mapping for the loan size at 85% LTV. Heron Financial narrowed the panel to lenders genuinely comfortable lending over £600,000 at 85% LTV on a new-build, factoring in their large-loan policies and new-build site exposure rules.
Affordability check on a single income. The adviser confirmed the £607,000 loan sat comfortably within HSBC’s affordability for the client’s profile, with the income multiple working as needed rather than the case sitting on the edge.
New-build coordination. The mortgage offer was structured to match the builder’s timeline, with offer validity aligned to the expected completion date so the case didn’t need re-broking later in the process.
Lender choice. HSBC was the right home for this case. They’re an established lender for higher loan sizes on the high street, with workable new-build criteria, generous affordability for clean professional borrowers, and competitive pricing at the 85% LTV band.
Product. A fixed rate at 4.03% gave the client strong pricing on what is, by any measure, a meaningful mortgage commitment. Payment certainty matters more, not less, when the loan is large.
The outcome
The mortgage completed in December 2025. The client moved into their new-build home with:
A £607,000 mortgage at 85% LTV
A fixed rate at 4.03% on capital and interest repayment
A clean coordination between sale completion and purchase completion
Sharp high-street pricing on a higher-value new-build
What this means for buyers in a similar position
If you’re upsizing into a new-build at a meaningful loan size, the lender market is narrower than it looks. Large-loan policy, new-build LTV caps, site exposure limits and affordability all interact in ways that aren’t obvious from rate comparison sites. The right lender takes the whole picture cleanly; the wrong one declines on a technicality you didn’t know existed. A broker who knows which lenders are genuinely comfortable with higher-value new-build at 85% LTV, and which ones quietly aren’t, is the difference between a clean offer and a stalled case.
FAQs
Can you get an 85% LTV mortgage on a new-build house?
Yes. Most mainstream lenders offer up to 85% LTV on new-build houses, though some apply lower caps on new-build flats (often 85% maximum, sometimes 75%). New-build at higher loan sizes can narrow the lender market further, so lender choice matters more than on a second-hand purchase.
What's the maximum mortgage I can get on a single income?
Most lenders apply a maximum loan-to-income multiple of 4.5x, with some offering 5x or higher for stronger profiles or certain professions. A £600,000+ loan on a single income typically requires a base salary in the £130,000+ range under standard 4.5x rules. Specific affordability varies between lenders.
How do lenders treat new-build properties differently?
Lenders apply additional criteria to new-builds, including LTV caps (typically tighter on flats than houses), site exposure limits (the percentage of a development a single lender will lend against), builder warranty requirements (NHBC, LABC or equivalent), and valuation against open market value rather than purchase price.
Can I use sale proceeds plus savings as a deposit on a new-build?
Yes. A deposit made up of sale equity plus personal savings is a standard structure for home movers buying new-build. The sale and purchase typically complete around the same time, with the equity flowing through your solicitor to fund the new deposit, supplemented by savings.
Does new-build offer validity matter?
Yes. New-builds often complete months after reservation, sometimes more than six months. Mortgage offers are time-limited (typically three to six months), so the lender needs to be willing to extend the offer or re-issue it if the build runs over. Some lenders are more flexible than others on this.
