Anyone know what the new tighter lending rules banks are using actually are?

[Badvoc]

Hi,
Dh and I decided to try and leave our fixed rate mortgage as we are paying nearly 5% :( it was the only mortgage available when we moved 2.5 years ago.
Obv things have changed since then and so we asked to remortgage to a lower rate - figured we could save ourselves £ per month.
Except...
Even though our circumstances have not changed in those 2.5 years and even thou our house is worth approx £30k more than it was 2.5 years ago we no longer "meet the lending criteria" - because dh is the sole earner (and has been for the last 10 years!)
In fact the back we a
Currently have the mortgage with told me that now we would only be lent £116k - as opposed to the £40k more they lent us 2.5 years ago - and that wasn't even the max we could have had!!
All seems a bit mad to me.
It's not the end of the world, we aren't too bothered really, but we both just think it's really odd.
Anyone had similar?

Each lender operates their own criteria and, if you want to remortgage to get a cheaper rate, I'd recommend you ask an independent mortgage broker to get you some different options rather than going to your existing lender.

We are with nationwide. Have been for years.
We wanted some additional borrowing of £10k.
It took 7 weeks to sort out.
We own over half the house. Have both been in the same jobs for a long time.
They repeatedly came back asking us questions about our jobs and income etc.
it is definitely harder to borrow ATM.

There's very little reward for loyalty. Shop around.

We have tried 2 banks now and been refused twice.
I am guessing no one will lend to us?

Definitely agree with Cognito - get an independent broker. They will take all the work out if it to you and stop you being rejected. They should give you a list of mortgage providers who will lend to and their best rates.

Your DH isn't self-employed by any chances is he? Lenders are super sniffy about those as we know to our cost. We tried to remortgage a couple of years ago and couldn't get a better rate than we are already paying because we wanted to fix too. DH didn't have enough yrs of self employment depite being able to remortgage previously with less years.

A broker will get you through the minefeield or at least save you time by letting you know if you are wasting your time trying to switch.

Ok will do.