Mortgage News

Lending Criteria to Consider when Purchasing a Buy to Let Flat

11/03/2013

I had a question concerning this from our reader Dan today, but many Buy to Let investors I talk to are unprepared when looking to purchase a flat about considering what lenders will take as suitable security. Banks often have a surprisingly vast array of criteria that needs to be considered when lending. I have… Read more

Bankers advice resulted in collapse of my property business

09/03/2013

IRHP stands for Interest Rate Hedging Protection. So how can a form of “protection” result in the collapse of a business you may well wonder? It’s ‘Heads I Win Tails You Lose’ – but from who’s perspective? The following story was submitted by Jon Welsby, a victim of the banks mis-selling of Interest Rate Hedging Protection.

Mortgage Facilities for Professional Property Investors

25/02/2013

What do you give to professional property investors who are maxed out with their current lenders, with over £1m of buy to let mortgages outstanding, a mixed portfolio of houses, flats and new build properties, and who wants to raise capital to secure new opportunities with the option to either sell again quickly or refinance again… Read more

Major buy to let lender shuns benefits tenants

22/02/2013

Mortgage Brokers across the UK have been advised by Nationwide Building Society’s specialist buy to let mortgage arm (The Mortgage Works) that they are changing their criteria to stop buy to let investors letting their properties to tenants in receipt of benefits. A survey from housing charity Crisis, released just before Christmas, claimed that 98.5%… Read more

Kent Reliance release new buy to let range for portfolio landlords

Kent Reliance has launched a series of buy-to-let products which place no restriction on the size of the landlord’s portfolio. They are available for loans of up to £1m at 85% LTV, and at 75% TV for loans over £1m. Rates at 75% start at 4.49% for a two-year fix. A product fee is charged… Read more

Mortgage Express Right to Consolidate

14/02/2013

I have been a buy to let mortgage broker for several years and recently heard the most alarming story in my career regarding the Mortgage Express Exit strategy and their “right to consolidate”. I was contacted by a long-standing client recently as he had had a disturbing conversation with  Mortgage Express.  After calling them in… Read more

Agreement to Letting Fee now being charged by Mortgage Express

10/02/2013

Is Rob’s mortgage lender pulling a fast one by charging him an “Agreement to Letting Fee” or has he been lucky so far and actually got a relatively fair deal? Rob’s email as follows:- “I own with a flat with a £225k residential mortgage on it from Mortgage Express. Six years ago I purchased a… Read more

Brokers Review of Aldermore Bank’s Buy to Let Mortgages

06/02/2013

Aldermore Bank have recently refreshed their buy to let rates and terms. I asked my mortgage broker what he thought and what the interesting features are for buy to let landlords within the Aldermore product range. His response was:-

Student Buy to Let – 100% mortgages available to students!

16/11/2012

Seriously, this is NOT a wind up! Our regulated mortgage broker of choice has informed us of a deal that he’s done with a lender which allows students to invest into a buy to let property worth up to £250,000 with NO DEPOSIT. What’s more, the lender is offering a 0.25% discount off their standard… Read more

What is “The GOOD Landlords Campaign”?

03/10/2012

The GOOD Landlords Campaign is a concept born as a result of a community of like minded professional landlords sharing best practice on the Property118 internet forum. These professional landlords wanted to differentiate themselves from inspired amateurs who rent out their properties with no real long term strategy or regard for their tenants desires to… Read more

You can remortage within six months!

12/09/2012

It is possible to remortage within six months of purchase, even on a buy to let property, I promise you! Forget everything you have heard about “the CML’s six month rule”, no such rule exists!  The legend of the “CML’s six month rule” for remortgaging has been bandied around forums for at least five years now but I can… Read more

Mortgage fraud surges according to Experian

22/08/2012

Experian®, the global information services company, today revealed a 23 per cent jump in attempted mortgage fraud rates between April and June 2012. Examples of this being residential mortgages being used to fund buy-to-let purchases and in some cases, buy-to-let mortgages being used to raise larger mortgages than lenders would normally consider based on income… Read more