Generally speaking, national tenant demand between May and June is usually muted, reported to be around a one per cent fluctuation over the past four years.
However this year the Rightmove Rental Trends Tracker outlined a seven per cent uplift, representing a marked change.
The question is – with increased tenant demand being evident, what have lenders done to support landlords over the past month?
In terms of innovation, LendInvest launched a bridge-to-let product for borrowers seeking to refurbish a property before exiting onto a buy-to-let mortgage.
This is available for amounts between £75,000 and £750,000 on terms up to 12 months on a light refurbishment of residential properties, including HMOs with a maximum of six bedrooms.
A maximum loan to value (LTV) of 75 per cent applies at an interest rate of 0.60 per cent per month. This comes after several changes to LendInvest’s buy-to-let proposition, which now offers loans up to £750,000 for its five-year fixed rates and contributions to legal fees.
Accord and Paragon
In terms of rates, fees and criteria, Accord Mortgages has released a range of fee-free two-year fixed rate buy-to-let remortgage deals and reduced rates on selected two-, three- and five-year fixed rate buy-to-let mortgages by up to 0.11 per cent.
Paragon has also reduced rates within its buy-to-let mortgage range.
Furthermore, the lender has removed up-front fees and introduced a £350 cashback on selected portfolio and non-portfolio products from 75 per cent to 80 per cent LTV for landlords with single self-contained units, houses in multiple occupation or multi-unit blocks.
Leeds BS and Kensington
Leeds Building Society has cut rates on selected buy-to-let mortgages by up to 0.16 percentage points.
The mutual has also introduced a new cashback incentive. It is now offering a 1.69 per cent two-year buy-to-let fixed rate mortgage up to 60 per cent LTV with a £999 fee.
The range has also been expanded to include new five-year fixed rate buy-to-let cashback products.
The new £1,000 cashback incentive products – which include a free standard valuation and fees assisted legal services for remortgages – comprise a 2.94 per cent five-year product available up to 60 per cent LTV with no fee, and a 3.11 per cent five-year deal available up to 70 per cent LTV with no fee.
Finally, we also saw Kensington Mortgages dropping its minimum loan amount from £100,000 to £70,000 with the aim of helping more customers to achieve their buy-to-let ambitions.
These are all positive additions to the sector and let’s hope they will help landlords meet more of their tenants’ needs, without them having to pay any unnecessary fees along the way.