Buy-to-let lender BM Solutions will allow top slicing for eligible buy-to-let applications from today.
Top slicing permits customers who have a shortfall in required lending to use a proportion of earned income when the rental income for the buy-to-let property is not enough to meet its standard rental cover ratio calculation (RCR).
Portfolio landlord and let-to-buy customers do not qualify for top slicing.
To qualify for top slicing, there needs to be minimum income of £100,000 per application. This can be either PAYE, self-employment, pension, profit from UK land and property.
The minimum RCR is 125 per cent and the maximum RCR is 145 per cent. Below or over the standard RCR calculation is offered and the maximum loan available will be offered.
A full affordability assessment will be carried out as part of application automatically to ensure that minimum top slicing requirements are meet and customers have sufficient disposable income to cover rental shortfalls.
Leigh Church (pictured), head of BM Solutions, said: “We recognise the needs of landlords and brokers and have made these changes to support them. We continue to innovate and flex our approach and products to support the market while maintaining robust controls on affordability.”
Anna is currently the deputy editor for Mortgage Solutions and editor for Specialist Lending Solutions. She has worked as a journalist since 2019, having secured her Gold Standard NCTJ diploma from News Associates in a fast-track six-month course.
She started her career as a report at specialist publication The Insurance Insider covering a wide range of areas before joining Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions in 2021.
In her role, she helps put together and structure the news agenda for the day and writes up press releases, reports, interviews, analyses and exclusives across both titles. She also commissions blogs for Specialist Lending Solutions and hosts online masterclasses and in-person events across the business.
She has been shortlisted for three journalism awards, which include BIBA Journalist and Media Awards Scoop of Year Award in 2020, Headline Money Mortgage Journalist of the Year Award (B2B) in 2022 and 2023.
Prior to being a journalist, Anna worked in ecommerce across Snow + Rock, Cycle Surgery and Runners Need websites, and before that worked at specialist financial PR firm Rostrum.
In her spare time, Anna enjoys reading, seeing live music, and cooking for friends and family. When she gets a chance, she also enjoys hiking, skiing and indoor rock climbing.
