Paragon Bank launched a flexible ‘track to fix’ mortgage feature as part of a range refresh which saw price changes across fixed, variable and further advance products. The feature enables buy-to-let landlords to select a new discounted variable rate mortgage which can be switched to an available Paragon fixed rate switch product at any given time during the term, incurring no early repayment charges (ERCs).
New products and rate cuts
Accord Mortgages introduced a new range of two-year tracker mortgages with landlords able to benefit from new products up to 75 per cent loan to value (LTV), with variable rates starting from 4.32 per cent at 60 per cent LTV. These are for purchase and remortgage and come with a £995 fee and free standard valuation.
West One Loans announced a new range of limited edition two and five-year fixed rate products for landlords wanting to borrow up to £1.5m. The range starts at 5.55 per cent for a standard five-year fix and 5.75 per cent for the equivalent specialist product.
Vida slashed rates across its buy-to-let range by up to 1.35 percentage points. The best rate available is the Vida 48, 80 per cent LTV two-year variable at 5.49 per cent. In addition, product fees have been halved from two per cent to one per cent on buy-to-let two-year fixed rate products.
Landbay launched a special edition limited range of five-year fixed rate buy-to-let mortgages.
Rates start from 4.89 per cent and go up to 5.49 per cent. These rates are available for a limited time only on standard properties including new builds. There are four 75 per cent LTV products ranging from £100,000 to £1m and four 65 per cent LTV for landlords wanting larger loans from £1m to £1.5m.
Zephyr Homeloans released a new range of five-year fixed rate mortgage products. Rates start from 6.14 per cent on a five-year fixed-rate standard buy-to-let mortgage product at 70 per cent LTV for properties with an A to C-rated energy performance certificate (EPC) and 6.24 per cent on properties with an EPC rating of D or E, with both including standard flats above commercial properties.
UTB Mortgages for Intermediaries introduced a new limited edition buy-to-let five-year fixed rate mortgage at 6.19 per cent with a four per cent product fee. The lender recently introduced its online decision in principle (DIP) process for buy-to-let products, enabling it to increase capacity for new applications and reduce its service level agreement (SLA) for new applications and post to 24 hours.
In addition, CHL Mortgages reduced its rates across all five-year and two-year fixed rate buy-to-let mortgages by up to 0.50 percentage points.
Specialist buy-to-let
In the more specialist areas of the buy-to-let lending arena, Hodge reduced rates across its holiday let and 50+ product ranges. The lender is offering both repayment and interest only options on the 50+ and holiday let mortgages, which benefit from reductions of 10 bps.
Buckinghamshire Building Society cut the rate on its two-year fixed rate holiday let product to 5.99 per cent. The deal is available for both purchase and remortgage cases for properties across England and Wales.
These positive strides are likely to add a little festive cheer for those landlords who have waited patiently for more favourable conditions from a pricing and criteria perspective.
And, on the back of some much-needed good news and encouraging trends, let me take this opportunity to say I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and here’s to a healthy, prosperous New Year.
