Meaning that activity across the buy-to-let arena continues at a decent pace, especially amongst specialist lenders.
So, let’s start with some good news from Accord Buy to Let who resumed accepting applications from first-time landlords up to a maximum loan-to-value of 75 per cent. The intermediary lender has reinstated all of its existing first-time landlord criteria, as of March 2020, up to 75 per cent LTV, for any applications now received.
Vida Homeloans has relaunched into the mortgage market with its core range of residential and buy-to-let products available up to a maximum of 85 per cent LTV.
As part of its return, the lender has introduced specific criteria to tackle the new economic environment including payment holidays, furlough and bounce back loans.
In other product related news, West One has launched two limited edition buy-to-let deals for standard and specialist landlords.
The first deal is a five-year fixed rate loan, with a 75 per cent LTV and a three-year early repayment charge. Rates start at 4.04 per cent on loan sizes from £50,000 to £1m, with terms from five to 30 years.
This loan is available for houses, leasehold flats and maisonettes, new-builds, houses of multiple occupation (HMOs), multi-unit freehold blocks (MUFBs) and holiday lets, including Airbnb.
The second limited edition product is a five-year fixed rate deal with a maximum loan capped at £250,000. For standard properties, the rate is 3.59 per cent and for specialist securities the rate is 3.79 per cent.
The maximum loan-to-value is 70 per cent with a minimum loan size of £50,000.
Rate changes
Foundation Home Loans has enhanced rates on three of its five-year buy-to-let products, available to both limited company and individual landlord borrowers.
Within the F1 buy-to-let product range – for landlord borrowers with an almost clean credit history – the specialist lender has cut five-year rates on its 65 per cent LTV product to 3.24 per cent from 3.39 per cent, and on its 75 per cent LTV product to 3.49 per cent from 3.59 per cent.
Both products come with a two per cent fee.
Foundation has also dropped the rate of its large loan, five-year 65 per cent LTV buy-to-let product from 3.29 per cent to 3.14 per cent; this comes with a minimum loan size of £500,000, and a maximum of £2m. These rate reductions follow its recent return to offering 80 per cent LTV buy-to-let products.
LTV adjustments
Focusing further on LTV changes, The Mortgage Lender has increased its loan-to-value from 65 per cent to 75 per cent on all buy-to-let remortgage products. The rise means there are no limits on the amount of capital a landlord is able to raise in England, Scotland and Wales through a remortgage up to 75 per cent LTV. The facility is available across The Mortgage Lender’s core product range.
And last but not least, Darlington Intermediaries has extended the end dates to its Specialist Discounted Rate Mortgage range, including a three-year expat buy-to-let product. The specialist range comprises of products that sit outside standard lending criteria such as complex income and complex properties.
August may not have been the busiest month when it comes to product launches but it’s evident that confidence continues to build across the sector.
Choice is a key ingredient for intermediaries, landlords, investors and developers who are all looking to take advantage of the opportunities being presented within such buoyant purchase and rental markets.
And with additional options emerging across many areas of the buy-to-let and more specialist markets, it’s fair to say that we should expect these confidence levels to increase further and for activity levels to heat up in the coming months.
