We offer tailored advice to buy-to-let landlords, portfolio investors and property professionals looking to acquire or refinance buy-to-let properties.
We advise individual and limited company structures (including SPVs) on everything from a single buy-to-let purchase to portfolios of buy-to-let properties. Most of the landlords and investors that we advise are no longer first-time landlords. They might be looking to grow their portfolio, rearrange their existing buy-to-let mortgages or incorporate an acquisition into an overall investment plan. This can include remortgaging from bridging loan funding onto term loan facilities through a bridge-to-let or BRRR strategy, rearranging loan facilities on residential buy-to-let properties held within a limited company or dealing with lender exposure caps across portfolios.
There is a real difference in lender appetite, pricing and the amount of money available depending on the structure of the portfolio of buy-to-let properties and the type of property being purchased, as well as your overall situation. Our aim is to explain each case as clearly as possible and align this with lenders most suitable to the transaction to ensure the smooth and successful completion of the transaction.
MUFB mortgage advice for investors, landlords and developers buying, refinancing or retaining multi unit freehold blocks. Structured around valuation, rental stress testing, title position and lender appetite.
The term buy to let refers to acquiring or refinancing a property as an investment rather than for owner occupation. The loan is assessed primarily against the rental income the property generates, rather than relying solely on personal income.
Many landlords begin with a single investment property alongside their own residential mortgage. As portfolios expand, landlords consider a broader strategy. Ownership structure, leverage across individual assets and across the portfolio, lender exposure limits and exit strategy all become more relevant to how borrowing is structured and assessed. Once a portfolio begins to grow, transactions typically become more involved due to enhanced underwriting. Additional properties, limited company ownership and higher-value assets are not treated uniformly by lenders, and differences in criteria can materially affect both the availability of finance and how borrowing capacity is calculated.
Alongside funding considerations, landlords also need to keep pace with regulatory changes. Our analysis of the Renters' Rights Act explores why, despite the challenges, some of the reforms may ultimately benefit professional landlords over the long term.
Where the intention is to occupy the property, or where repayment depends primarily on personal income, the requirement would instead fall under a residential mortgage, which is assessed on a different basis.
Lenders underwrite buy-to-let mortgages first and foremost against the buy-to-let property's expected rental income than the borrower's salary or earned income, but lenders do not just take face-value figures and run them through formulas.
Rental income is used to calculate borrowing limits. Lenders will apply stress testing, ensuring that the income will cover borrowing under assumptions of higher interest rates, alongside taking into account property type, the type of tenant occupying the property and the stability of the rental income stream.
For a single buy-to-let property, the assessment of an acceptable income stream against borrowings may not be too complicated. For investors with several buy-to-let properties, their entire portfolio of assets will be used as collateral, with lenders looking at total exposure and use across the whole portfolio, whereas before, only income and the asset were taken into consideration.
Limited company or SPV arrangements will add a layer to the underwriting as well. If the portfolio is held through a limited company or SPV, profits will be retained in the limited company or SPV than withdrawn as personal income and a lender will look at this from a company tax perspective than a personal tax perspective.
The outcome is that two cases with similar headline figures can be treated quite differently. The way income is structured, how properties are held and how the wider portfolio is positioned can all influence both the amount that can be borrowed and the terms available.
These ranges are indicative only and will vary by lender, market conditions, rental coverage, property type and borrower structure, which is why early scenario modelling is important when assessing buy-to-let affordability.
Investors often use affordability and cost modelling tools alongside lender discussions to test scenarios before committing to a purchase or remortgage. Our property investment calculators can help you explore rental stress testing, borrowing levels and acquisition costs as part of this early-stage planning, for example our buy to let buy to let stress test calculator or buy to let mortgage payment calculator.
Most lenders expect a deposit or equity of 25%+, which varies by property type, lender and product. Some lenders may have options as little as 15% deposit.
Yes, although special purpose vehicles (SPVs) are preferred by lenders to trading companies. Mortgage options are widely available for SPV companies, in particular for portfolios. Read more in our buy to let guide for limited companies.
Yes, most investors opt for interest-only, with capital repaid via sale or refinance. Capital and interest repayment options are also available, and so too are interest-only products that allow overpayments should the investor choose to pay off some of the debt in a lump sum.
Lenders will usually apply rental stress tests using a notional rate and required coverage ratios (for example 125–145%, depending on lender and borrower structure) to ensure that the investment remains viable should costs increase. Use our stress tests calculator to help understand how these might apply to your property.
Most cases can be completed within 4-8 weeks, depending on valuation, licensing (for HMOs) and legal work required. It may be possible for simple cases may be completed in less than 4 weeks, but complex cases can take longer. Where a case needs a faster completion, for example an auction purchase, a bridging loan may be beneficial.
Yes, we source House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) mortgages and multi-unit freehold block (MUFB) products for our clients. Lenders may expect the landlord to have relevant experience depending on the property type, and/or experienced property managers.
Treatment depends on classification and intended use. A commercial and land SDLT calculator can provide an estimate.
Explore the latest guides, case studies, market commentary and tools relating to Buy to Let Mortgages.
Adler Green Ltd is an Appointed Representative of Connect IFA Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We are entered on the Financial Services Register under firm reference number 1045424. The FCA does not regulate some Business Buy-to-Let Mortgages and Commercial Mortgages to Limited Companies. Adler Green Ltd is registered in England and Wales (company number 16714313) at registered address 71-75 Shelton Street, London, WC2H 9JQ. We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office as ICO No. ZB987489.
The information contained within this website is subject to the UK regulatory regime and is therefore targeted at consumers based in the UK. Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. There will be a fee for mortgage advice, the precise amount will depend upon your circumstances. Your consultant will confirm the amount before you choose to proceed. We are a credit broker and not a lender. We have access to an extensive range of lenders. Once we have assessed your needs, we will recommend a lender(s) that provides suitable products to meet your personal circumstances and requirements, though you are not obliged to take our advice or recommendation. Whichever lender we introduce you to, we will typically receive commission from them after completion of the transaction. The amount of commission we receive will normally be a fixed percentage of the amount you borrow from the lender. Commission paid to us may vary in amount depending on the lender and product. The lenders we work with pay commission at different rates. However, the amount of commission that we receive from a lender does not have an effect on the amount that you pay to that lender under your credit agreement.