Mortgage borrowing rules have been eased after the Bank of England scrapped an affordability test.
The “stress test” forced lenders to calculate whether potential borrowers would be able to cope if interest rates climbed by up to 3%.
Removing the test may help some potential borrowers get loans, such as the self-employed or freelance workers.
But other rules such as strict loan-to-income limits will not make it easier for most people to get a mortgage.
The withdrawal of the affordability test was announced in June but has come into effect on Monday.
“Scrapping the affordability test is not as reckless as it may sound,” said Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients.
“The loan-to-income framework remains so there will still be some restrictions in place; it is not turning into a free-for-all on the lending front.
“Lenders will also still use some form of testing but to their own choosing according to their risk appetite.”
In other words there will not be an immediate impact for borrowers as lenders will not need to change the way they assess loans.
However, some may well change their own rules in the future.
Mark Yallop, chairman of the Financial Markets Standards Board, said although the change would make it “slightly easier” for some borrowers to get a mortgage, he did not think with would have a significant impact.
“The biggest constraint on new mortgages is the ability of borrowers to afford a deposit,” he added.
The mortgage affordability test was introduced in 2014 as part of a widescale tightening up of the mortgage market to ensure there were no repeats of the mis-selling scandal that partially contributed to the 2008 financial crisis.
The rule was put in place to ensure that borrowers did not become a threat to the financial stability of lenders by taking on debt they subsequently might not be able to repay.
Lenders had to not only work out if borrowers could afford a mortgage at the rate they were being offered, but also work out how they would be affected if interest rates soared by 3%.
Borrowers who could not prove they could cope with such an eventuality might have been turned down for a loan on that basis, even if they could easily afford a mortgage at the existing rate.
For that reason the test was seen by some as a barrier for some borrowers.