The Coventry Building Society has cut rates and fees on buy to let loans through subsidiary Godiva.
Two year fixed rates are offered at 4.30% at 65% loan to value with a £250 booking fee and no arrangement fee, while another two-year fix is available at 3.99% with a £250 booking fee and a £749 arrangement fee.
Platform has also cut buy to let rates across a range of tracker and fixed rate buy-to-let products. Continue reading Buy to Let Arrangement Fees Reduced by Godiva and Platform
Buy to let borrowing was down 5% in the first three months of the year after a barnstorming end to 2011.
In figures that revealed buy to let is treading water rather than buoyant, new landlord loans totaled £3.7 billion, according to the latest official figures from bank and building society trade body the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Continue reading ‘Buoyant’ buy to let lending sinks by 5%, lenders report
Co-Operative Bank buy to let mortgage customers can breathe a sigh of relief as the wholesale scrapping of interest only loans does not include buy to let borrowers.
The bank’s specialist property investment subsidiary Platform will continue to offer interest only deals to landlords. Continue reading All change on the buy to let mortgage front
Mortgage underwriters are set to ask borrowers detailed personal questions about their spending habits as the banks tighten up lending rules.
Santander’s Abbey for Intermediaries – which includes buy to let lending for landlords – will quiz applicants about how much they spent on Christmas and birthday presents.
Other one-off spending will also come under scrutiny, like holidays, celebrations and ‘miscellaneous’ spending. Continue reading Bank wants to pry into your personal spending
As the buy to let mortgage wars hot up, several lenders are easing their terms for landlords.
Yorkshire Building Society has decided to offer buy to let across England and Wales, instead of just London and the South East. Continue reading Buy to Let Mortgage Conditions Eased
Buy to let mortgage lenders are creaming off the best borrowers and leaving the rest without any real hope of raising loans.
The reality of the market is more lenders are swooping like sharks in a feeding frenzy on landlords with the best credit ratings and highest rental yields, although they would have property investors believe they are helping swell the number of properties in their portfolios. Continue reading Booming Buy to Let Reality Check for Landlords
Buy to let lenders have fired the first shots in the battle to win the hearts and minds of property investors.
Platform, the landlord loan subsidiary of the Co-operative Bank, is increasing funding in the sector by 33% from £450 million last year to £600 million in 2012. Continue reading Buy to Let Mortgage War Hots up with New Deals for Landlords
A buy to let lender was slammed for a landlord mortgage of £166,500 without carrying out proper income checks in a negligence case at the High Court.
GMAC-RFC – now trading as Paratus-AMC – agreed the 90% loan-to-value advance on a £185,000 property valuation from Countrywide in 2004. Continue reading Judge Hits Out at Buy to Let Lender’s Poor Underwriting
Tough new mortgage restrictions to stop borrowers falling in to arrears have been proposed by the Financial Services Authority after months of behind-closed-doors negotiation with lenders.
Out go self-certification and interest-only home loans for most mortgage borrowers.
In come strict affordability tests to combat payment difficulties and mortgage fraud for borrowers – with lenders having to prove borrowers could afford their repayments before taking any action to seek arrears or repossession. Continue reading FSA Propose New Mortgage Lending Restrictions
Santander has joined the buy to let lending frenzy with a range of purchase and remortgage deals for landlords.
The property investment loans are available from IFAs and mortgage brokers under the Abbey for Intermediaries banner. Continue reading Santander Joins Buy to Let Mortgage Frenzy
Islamic Bank of Britain has joined the throng as the latest lender to offer buy to let mortgages to landlords.
The IBB will consider applications from landlords of any faith for a Sharia-compliant mortgage.
The mortgage package is a 75% loan-to-value deal at 5.49% variable with a 1% arrangement fee. Continue reading Islamic Bank Offers Buy to Let Loans for First Time
The UK will comply with proposals to regulate buy to let mortgages if the European Union decides to include the loans in the forthcoming consumer credit directive.
Despite warnings that regulation will change the face of the market from bank and building society trade body the Council of Mortgage Lenders, the Financial Services Authority sees the ‘logic’ in the directive.
The CML has argued for some months that buy to let loans should remain outside the directive because the borrowing is a commercial rather than consumer transaction. Continue reading Buy to Let Mortgage Regulation is Logical, says the FSA
The number of buy to let mortgages has more than doubled over the past three years – with more special deals only available from brokers.
Landlords and property investors can choose from 483 different mortgages – up from 237 in October 2008, according to independent financial monitor Defaqto.
The number keeps rising as more lenders expand their ranges or join the market.
The cheapest fixed rate mortgage is the Platform four-year fixed rate deal at 4.79% available to January 31, 2016. Continue reading Landlords Have Double the Choice of Buy to Let Mortgages
Buy to let insiders have revealed some home truths behind the property business in an online video for mortgage brokers.
The key speaker was Paul Howard, head of the Nationwide’s specialist accounts, which includes major landlord lender The Mortgage Works (TMW)
The video debate was hosted by trade magazine Mortgage Solutions, bringing Howard together mortgage brokers and an independent adviser. He said he expects to see a continuing and growing demand for buy to let mortgages.
“I expect buy to let to grow to 20%, maybe 25% of all broker business,” he said. “The market is very significant and the trend has already started. More people need to rent and this demand is driving more demand for buy to let.”
He explained that landlord mortgages are likely to grow 40% this year – from £10 billion of lending in 2010 to £14 billion.
The reason is margins on lending – Howard highlighted that mortgage lenders can make bigger profits on lending the same amount of money to landlords rather than other homeowners.
“Buy to let margins are a lot more attractive than residential lending,” he said. “Lender’s criteria will soften, tighter margins will give landlords better pricing.”
He went on to explain why landlord lenders charge such high fees.
“Buy to let fees are misunderstood,” he said. “Higher fees give borrowers lower interest rates and improves cash flow for a landlord. High fees also make the rent cover calculation work better.”
Howard then discussed how the cost of a high fee/low rate mortgage is similar to a no fee/high rate loan – but 90% of TMW customers opt for the higher fee product because the lower mortgage rate gives them better cash flow.
“Low rate, low fee mortgages are not going to happen,” he said. “The lender won’t make a profit from these loans and buy to let mortgage rates are higher because lenders are not paying the Bank of England base rate for their money.”
The debate also covered mortgage regulation, which Howard spoke out against.
"Buy to let mortgages to go up?"
Cheap fixed rate and tracker buy to let mortgages may be on the way out as the rate lenders pay for money has increased.
This is likely to lead to higher mortgage rates even if the Bank of England base rate stays at the record low of 0.5%.
Banks and building societies pay returns based on the London Inter Bank Offer Rate (LIBOR) for money they borrow – and the rate went up from 0.83 per cent in August to 0.95%.
The supply of money has also tightened due to the Euro-zone debt crisis.
Buy to let mortgage rates have dropped during the past 12 months, but are still higher than homeowner rates. Continue reading Cheap Buy to Let Mortgages Set to Disappear
"Buy to let is about to been shaken up by new lenders"
The buy to let mortgage market is set for changes as new lenders are ready to offer loans to property investors.
Santander was poised to start lending last month, but has held back blaming technology problems.
The bank had approached mortgage brokers with a 75 per cent loan-to-value deal for landlords with small portfolios of up to three properties.
The loan will come with a capped £1,000 arrangement fee.
Santander has hinted that the bank was to enter the buy to let market for months. Continue reading Buy to let Borrowers Braced for New Lenders
A new buy to let mortgage lender is about to enter the market with broker-only deals.
The State Bank of India (SBI) has announced preparations to offer a 60% loan-to-value (LTV) tracker at 3.9%.
The first applications will be handled in branches and then opened to brokers and independent financial advisers.
The bank is accepting deals for loans between £50,000 and £1.5 million, and charges a £150 booking fee and £1,990 closing fee. No early redemption payments are charged.
SBI has 10 branches, mainly in and around London.
Leeds Building Society has launched a new five year 4.99% fixed rate buy to let mortgage at 70% LTV.
The closing fee is £1,299 and the lender allows borrowers make 10% capital repayments a year without penalty.
Borrowers are also being offered a free valuation and a legal service for remortgages in a bid to tempt them in.
Meanwhile, Kensington has pulled all 85% LTV buy to let mortgages; Skipton Building Society has raised the tracker rates from 3.24% to 3.59% and Aldermore Bank has stopped offering fixed rate deals.
Replacement deals are at more expensive interest rates or charge more fees.
Despite a flurry of activity among lenders, the market is still dominated by the big two – BM Solutions, owned by the Lloyds Banking Group, and The Mortgage Works (TMW), a Nationwide Building Society subsidiary
These landlord lenders have around a 90% share of the market.
The buy to let market has around 30 bank, building society and finance house lenders offering about 2,600 different loan deals at an average 23% loan-to-value.
Santander is the latest big name lender considering entering the property investment market. A spokesman has confirmed the bank is ‘considering’ buy to let loans to non-professional landlords.
"85% more Buy to let valuations than August 2010"
Surging buy to let mortgage applications have boosted mortgage valuations to record summer levels, according to surveyors.
Property valuations for landlords were up 85 per cent in August on figures of 12 months ago, according to Connells Survey and Valuation.
The total number of valuations in August was just 4 per cent lower than July, but the number of valuations grew by 49 per cent year on year.
“We’ve had our strongest August since 2007 and the expected August dip hasn’t really materialised. Valuation activity was 96 per cent of the level in July, and with the summer holidays coming to a close, we expect it to pick up pace as September progresses.” said John Bagshaw, corporate services director of Connells Survey and Valuation. Continue reading Housing Market Boosted by Surge in Buy to Let
"Landlords are realigning rather than purchasing"
Buy to let landlords are realigning their property finances rather than purchasing more homes for their portfolios.
The latest buy to let mortgage figures show borrowing increased as 32,000 loans worth £3.5 billion were agreed with lenders in the three months ending June 30 – but two thirds of the business was remortgaging. Continue reading Landlords Refinance Rather than Buy New Homes
"Yorkshire Building Society moving inot buy to let"
Yorkshire Building Society is taking a tentative step in to buy to let lending with a limited range of mortgages for landlords.
Buy to let borrowing will be available through the building society’s subsidiary Accord Mortgages.
The plan is for a ‘suck it and see’ approach for the Yorkshire’s first foray in to the buy to let market by offering loans only in London and the South East.
Only a small flow of funds is available to start as the Yorkshire runs a live test on systems.
The Yorkshire inherited a buy to let lending book from recent merger with the troubled Chelsea Building Society.
Yorkshire’s head of buy to let, Jeremy Law, said: “As a financially strong independent mutual, our primary focus is, and always will be, the interests of our members. We will approach buy to let mortgages as we would with any other home loan, as a responsible and prudent lender.
“Initially, we plan to offer products for properties located in London and the South East to ensure a manageable entry into the market. However, we hope that we may be able to extend our geographical spread later in the year once we have our operation up and running.”
The Yorkshire has not released any product details yet.
Meanwhile other lenders continue to adjust their rates and lending criteria to make their offerings more attractive to landlords.
Aldermore Bank is inviting applications for buy to let mortgages from first-time property investors and increased the maximum age for borrowers to 85 years-old.
Charles Haresnape, managing director of residential mortgages at Aldermore, said: “We’ve listened carefully to feedback from brokers and expect these enhancements to our buy-to-let criteria to be well received.
“As we’re now happy to consider first time landlords, as well as increasing our maximum borrowers’ age to 85, these additional benefits make the product more flexible and helps to open up the buy-to-let market to new customers.”
The bank’s interest rates start at 4.68%.
Buy to let borrowing is underpinning the mortgage market as the Bank of England and lenders report a surge in activity from property investors.
The signs are that lenders are inviting more applications from landlords and diverting funds from first time buyers and other borrowers to meet the demand. Continue reading Buy to let underpins the housing market
