The lender said it hopes to ‘reinforce’ its position in the buy-to-let market with these rate changes.
Virgin Money will remove its current minimum loan size of £300,000 on interest-only residential mortgage lending and instead introduce a minimum property value of £500,000 and a minimum gross income requirement of £100,000 for applicants.
The lender will also cease to offer interest-only lending to first-time buyers.
Virgin said at present interest-only represented around 10% of new mortgages.
New buy-to-let fixed rate products on offer include:
– Two-year fixed rate at 3.25% with a £1,995 product fee – a reduction of 0.13% (60% LTV)
– Two-year fixed rate at 4.59% with no product fee – a reduction of 0.50% (60% LTV)
– Three-year fixed rate at 4.69% with no product fee – a reduction of 0.90% (60% LTV)
New buy-to-let tracker products on offer include:
– Two-year tracker at 3.55% with a £995 product fee – a reduction of 0.20% (60% LTV)
– Two-year tracker at 2.89% with a 2.5% product fee – a reduction of 0.10% (60% LTV)
New buy-to-let products available exclusively through intermediaries:
– Two-year fixed rate at 2.89% with a £2,495 product fee – a reduction of 0.30% (60% LTV)
– Two-year fixed rate at 3.19% with a £2,495 product fee – a reduction of 0.15% (70% LTV)
Anthony Mooney, director of financial services at Virgin Money, said: “We are delighted to announce the launch of our new range of competitive buy-to-let products, which underlines the importance we place on this segment of the market.
“We are also announcing some changes to our residential interest-only lending policy that will take effect on 9 December. We are making these changes in response to feedback from our intermediary partners, and given our experience that the vast majority of interest-only customers have higher incomes and property values.
“We remain of the view that interest-only remains an important option for more experienced borrowers who have a clear and demonstrable repayment plan and our revised policy reflects that.”
