The lender’s HMO limit now stands at 15, which is up from 10 previously.
It has also increased its maximum LTV from 75 per cent to 80 per cent, which it said would increase the availability of its standard and green ranges to landlords with smaller deposits.
Keystone Property Finance has changed it’s tune to catering for first-time landlords looking to buy HMO property up to six bedrooms, having not accepted first-time landlords buying HMOs in the past.
The lender will also accept first-time landlords buying multi-unit properties up to six flats, which is an increase from four before.
It will also lend to retired expat applicants, who can select products from a range with rates starting from 3.34 per cent.
Keystone Property Finance upped its cashback offer to a maximum of £5,000, from £3,000.
For loans between £150,000 and £400,000 cashback is £1,250. For loans between £400,001 and £750,000 will now give £2,000 cashback.
Loans between £750,001 and £1m are eligible for £3,000 cashback, and for loans between £1m and £1.5m cashback sits at £4,000. For loans between £1.5m and £2m cashback is set at £5,000.
The maximum portfolio size has more than tripled from £3m to £10m, and it has doubled it maximum individual loan size to £2m.
Elise Coole, managing director of Keystone Property Finance, said that 2021 was a “momentous year” for the firm but it wanted to lend more in 2022, which was the reason for its criteria changes.
She said: “We believe these changes will make us a much more attractive proposition to brokers and landlords operating in the specialist end of the market.
“However, we haven’t made these criteria changes on a whim. They are the result of our ongoing dialogue with our brokers to find out what they and their clients want and need from a specialist buy-to-let lender.”
Coole said that brokers had been telling the company that it wanted a greater choice of higher LTV products, as well as more options for retired expats wanting to buy “investment properties” in the UK.
She added that whilst its HMO and multi-unit criteria was already “generous” the changes it had made should “really make us stand out in the market”.
“As a lender, we are always trying to evolve and improve, though, which is why brokers and landlords can expect a lot more from us in the coming 12 months,” she added.