October Newsletter 2024

By Jane Atkins, Head of Intermediary Sales

Happy Halloween! I’m pleased to declare no tricks from me, just treats in this month’s newsletter, with some great news for your landlord clients and some guidance based on trends we’ve been seeing in the marketplace. 

1. BTL Prime

We’ve expanded our offering to provide greater affordability for your landlord clients requiring a simple income calculation proposition with our new criteria, BTL Prime.

• Affordability assessed at the higher of initial payrate or 5%
• Available to Existing and First Time Landlords – including Limited Company
• Available up to 70% LTV
• Minimum property value requirement of £150,000
• Available for 5-year fixed rate period
• Rates from 4.49% with 5% fee (same pricing and fees apply to personally owned and limited company)

2. Source of deposit

To help give you the information you need to place your clients’ case, we’ve put together a quick overview of our deposit requirements:

Gifted deposits:

• Resi and BTL – immediate family member, up to 3 different sources

• Limited Company – any or all of the 4 Directors, by way of:

1. Intercompany loans (identical structure)
2. Director loans
3. Director gift
4. Limited company savings

Builders deposits

• Acceptable up to 5% incentive from the builder with verifiable NHBC

3. We don’t have a restricted Solicitors panel

This month we’ve had more enquiries about our acceptable solicitors, so I wanted to stress that we don’t have a set panel that your client has to use, provided their solicitor of choice meets the following:

• England and Wales: must be registered with The Law Society, be a member of the Law Society CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme), and have a minimum of 3 SRA approved managers/ partners or Principles in Private Practice (PPP)
• Scotland: must have at least 3 partners
• Northern Ireland: must adhere and comply with the Home Charter Scheme (HCS) and have at least 3 Principles in Private Practice (PPP) all of whom are members of the Law Society of Northern Ireland

4. New 2 year fixed Special rates – get them while you can

Buy to Let Core – all with free valuation

• 70% LTV rates start from 3.89% | 5% fee
• 75% LTV rates start from 3.99% | 5% fee
• Available for your Limited Company applicants at no extra cost

Residential Select

• Rates start from 5.29% | 70% LTV | £999 fee
• Select criteria comes with no initial credit score and we don’t take into account communication and small utility defaults

5. Our recent Webinar “Expert Insights: is the landscape improving for brokers?”

In case you missed it, our CFO Simon Betteridge gave a market overview while Robert Sinclair, CEO of AMI, highlighted the evolution of the housing market and the crucial role of mortgage brokers in navigating this landscape. He also shared his thoughts on what makes a broker successful, offering practical advice on how brokers can grow their business.

You can watch the full recording, or read the blog.

You can also register for our next webinar reviewing the 2024 market and discussing opportunities for growth in 2025, on Tuesday 10th December, and earn 45 minutes CPD.

If there are any other topics you’d like me to cover in future newsletters, please do get in touch and let me know. Or if you have a particular case you’d like to discuss, please get in touch with your local BDM, who will be happy to see you physically, virtually or over the phone.

Kindest regards, Jane