A number of factors are driving activity throughout the Buy to Let sector

It’s fair to say that the money pages often tend to focus on the negative parts of the Buy-to-Let (BTL) market rather than the positive ones. I’m sure you will continue to see headlines around landlords selling property, but what you are less likely to read about is the continued resilience being shown by lenders, landlords, developers and investors - both domestic and overseas.

A number of factors are driving activity throughout the BTL sector. The obvious one being that a growing number of landlords are taking advantage of the current climates to expand their portfolios and tap into some changing tenant demands and priorities – in relation to property type, flexible home working capacity, location and outside space.

Houses appear to be more in demand than flats and it’s widely suggested that a greater number of people are looking to rent for longer. The return of the student population has also played a key role in both increased activity and demand. There was no guarantee of this happening during the early summer months and this represents a significant proportion of the BTL market, especially for professional landlords. The more specialist areas such as holiday lets and ex-pat BTL are also seeing additional options emerge and there is also growing demand among first-time buyers looking to enter the BTL market.  

This was highlighted in recent data from Legal and General which showed that criteria search combinations for first-time buyers, first-time landlords and non-owner occupiers have seen an 18% increase since the beginning of September. The data also showed that ‘holiday lets’ was the second most searched term among mortgage advisers in September, moving from the top spot in August. International travel restrictions have fuelled an increase in demand for ‘staycations’, with many choosing to holiday in the UK rather than travelling abroad.

The importance of the private rented sector continues to rise as the housing supply gap widens, the amount of affordable housing being built lessens and demand for rental property will only grow. These factors are generating more opportunities for landlords and lending appetites are escalating to provide some highly competitive funding options.

So, if Buy-to-Let is something you are considering, speak to the professionals and especially a specialist in this area, in order to make the right impact..

Another budget over and some good news for First Time Buyers!

Well that was not the most of exciting of Budgets, although it could have been a lot worse.  It does seem like the spending taps have been turned slightly on, rather than off!

On the up side, Stamp Duty Relief has been extended to first time buyers purchasing shared ownership homes valued up to £500k.  Shared ownership meaning that you buy a percentage share of the property and rent the remaining amount from the housing association, normally with the option to ‘staircase’ (buy more of a share) at a later date.  This can be a good way to get onto that first step onto the property ladder, although you do need to cater for the additional rent payments and normally there are ground rents and service charges relating to the property to also take in to consideration.

The Government backed Help to Buy scheme, which was due to expire in 2021, is to be extended to 2023 for First Time Buyers.

Landlords took another hit as private residence relief on Capital Gains Tax is now only available if the landlord lives in the property with the tenant!  Landlords and tenants sharing properties is something currently not well catered for by mortgage lenders!

In other news, Virgin Money have scrapped their guarantor mortgage citing lack of use and that many lenders now prefer parents to be joint borrowers on the mortgage itself.  A number of lenders now offer joint borrower, sole proprietor mortgages.

Finally, there have been a number of changes over the last few days with some rates increasing and some decreasing.  TSB, Secure Trust Bank, Precise Mortgages, Nationwide, Family Building Society, Together Money, Kensington Mortgages, Coventry and Accord Mortgages have all issued product updates.  It is a volatile market currently and the uncertainty of Brexit is making an impact across the whole market.  Therefore, if you are looking to review your mortgage and have been offered a respectable and appropriate deal, do your homework, review all options, but don’t hang around!

New rules for Buy to Let portfolio landlords from September

If you are a Buy to Let landlord and own more than four properties, then this could be of interest to you..

In September, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA’s) second round of regulation rules will impact the Buy to Let sector.  These requirements revolve around the ‘professional landlord’ and specifically anyone who owns more than four properties.  These follow the recently implemented phase one, which took place in January 2017, implementing more stringent rental calculations and affordability assessments.  The overall aim of the rules is to bring all lenders up to prevailing market standards and guard against any slipping of underwriting standards during a period in which firms’ growth plans could be challenged by the changing economic landscape and the impact of forthcoming tax changes.

So, what does this mean?  The new rules require lenders to assess applications using a specialist underwriting process, review and stress test the landlord’s whole portfolio, as well as the individual’s financial capability. This includes those held in a Limited Company name.  

Lenders will be required to make sure you are not over exposed and any decision to lend will be made once the whole portfolio has been taken in to account.  Each lender will interpret the rules differently and, although still in July with launch just a couple of months away, many lenders have not yet confirmed how they will be looking to change things.

However, the murmurs across the market suggest that some lenders will look at all assets and liabilities, possibly even a business plan for the portfolio, any previous experience in property rental and both property rental and personal incomes.  This could also include budget forecasts.  As a standard, we expect to see the usual tax returns, three months bank statements and copies of all Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreements being requested. 

Therefore, if you are looking to change properties, buy further or reassess current portfolios, you might be wise to do it sooner, rather than after September.  Without a doubt, and as with any previous regulatory implementation, lenders turnaround times will be affected as new rules bed in and processes will become slower than usual, for a while at least.