Shawbrook enhances commercial mortgage criteria

The bank said it had observed shifting market conditions over the past 12 months and its move to make criteria changes would “deliver complex funding solutions” for specialised commercial investors and landlords who want to diversify their portfolios in the coming months.

Changes to its commercial and semi-commercial mortgage products include: a reduction in its minimum loan size to £250,000, a cut of 10 basis points applied to rates across the range and an increase of 5 percentage points to its maximum loan to value on semi-commercial deals to 75 per cent and 65 per cent for commercial deals.

The bank has re-introduced retail assets as acceptable security and is relaxing its experience requirements for applications from buy-to-let landlords.

The bank is also implementing a minimum EPC rating of C for office properties valued over £2m.

Daryl Norkett, head of real estate proposition at Shawbrook, said: “Shawbrook is committed to staying at the forefront of the real estate market, and we have been tracking the commercial property market closely. Having monitored the market and our own deal flow over the past few months, we are making changes to respond to growing demand from professional investors and landlords for commercial property.”