Yes, absolutely there are lenders who can assist with purchasing a buy to let property as your first purchase but they will generally apply different requirements for first time buyers. For example, they may have a higher minimum income or assess how much they will lend on an affordability assessment rather than by using a rental stress test. We can advise on the most suitable lender and products for your circumstances.

Yes. Although most lenders will require landlord experience to lend on a HMO or multi-unit, there are several lenders who can proceed without experience, and we even work with lenders who will consider making exceptions to standard criteria in certain circumstances. Depending on the size of the HMO, some lenders will actually allow this on standard products and look at the property in the same way as a standard buy to let property (typically for small HMOs) but this is the exception and not the rule, so don’t assume it is allowed for small multi lets. The criteria is different with each lender but we can recommend the most suitable for your purchase.

Most lenders will consider up to 75% however there are some who can lend 80% and even 85% loan to value. However, achieving this loan to value will also depend on other requirements being met.

If the tenant will be a relative of yours, you will require a specialist product that allows this. These are commonly referred to as regulated buy to let products and they are not offered by all lenders. The lenders criteria and how they will assess your application is different to standard tenancies and they may want to see that you could afford the mortgage on your own disposable income, without the rental you would receive. This is because many lenders think you are unlikely to evict a family member if they could not pay the rent and therefor need to ensure that you would still be able to pay the mortgage. There are a few lenders who would still assess lending based on rental.

Each lender has their own criteria on what company structures they will accept. Most of the lowest cost options will lend to SPV companies (Special purpose vehicle) that are set up solely for property and has a set SIC code with no other trading activity, although there are also options for trading businesses.

If you are yet to incorporate, I would recommend seeking tax advice from a suitably qualified accountant and they can advise on the most suitable structure for you. We can then find you the most suitable mortgage for your company.

Some of the more “Vanilla” lenders will want a very simple company structure with the Directors and shareholders being the same. More specialist lenders may allow more complex structures with minor shareholders sometimes being ignored for underwriting purposes and even layered company structures being acceptable such as holding companies of subsidiary companies. If you need advice or help securing a mortgage in your company, please get in touch and we can discuss the options available for your company.

Yes, while many lenders want you to have owned a property for at least 6 months before re-mortgaging there are several who don’t, and they aren’t necessarily more expensive options. This is the case for both residential and buy to let mortgages. Some lenders will use the original purchase price and cost of any works completed to improve the value, whereas other will use the full market value. Both can enable you to release equity, if you have increased the value since purchasing the property.

Yes, as long as you can show a repayment strategy that would be able to repay the loan at the end of the total term. Acceptable repayment strategies can include but are not limited to; savings and investments, sale of an investment property, sale of the subject property (if you plan to downsize later and there is enough equity in your home), pension lump sum, regular savings/bonuses.

Yes, there are lenders who will use salary +profits rather than salary and dividends for company directors with a shareholding of more than 25%. This can be beneficial when company directors have not previously taken their full profit in dividends for tax efficiency.

Although many lenders limit loans on a single property to less than £1 million or £1.5 million, there are lots of lenders who can consider mortgages for more. This included some high street lenders, specialist lenders and private banks. If you are a high net worth individual we can also arrange mortgages with many private banks.

Yes. Depending on the timeframe that you have for completion of the purchase you may be able to consider a standard Mortgage or for faster completion and properties not traditionally mortgageable (due to poor condition for example), Bridging finance can help.

If you have only a short period to complete within, you may not have enough time for a traditional mortgage, whereas a bridging loan can complete much more quickly.

If the property needs more work than is allowed with a traditional mortgage, again a bridging loan may be more suitable, as they will accept properties that need work.

Often used by property investors to either purchase at auction or buy properties that require improvement, Bridging Finance is a shorter term option (typically with a term of up to 12 - 18months) that can allow you to purchase or refinance a property more quickly than a normal mortgage and secured against a property that doesn’t necessarily need to be in a lettable or liveable condition (and therefor may not be suitable security for a traditional mortgage). This loan then allows you the term to complete any works required to the property to then sell on in a mortgageable condition or to refinance to a traditional mortgage.