Accidental landlord

Specially designed, on purpose 

As an accidental landlord, you didn’t buy a property to rent it out, but now you need to because of your circumstances. Perhaps you’ve moved out of your former home, or you’ve inherited a property? If so, our consumer buy-to-let mortgage is especially designed for you. 

In addition to offering first charge consumer buy-to-let, we’re one of the few lenders offering second charge consumer buy-to-let, particularly with interest-only repayment options. We also accept more property types than most other lenders, and have more flexibility when lending to people with less than perfect credit histories. So even if you’ve had previous problems, you could still qualify for a consumer buy-to-let mortgage with us.

We’ll consider consumer buy-to-let mortgages for:

• ex-council houses, flats and maisonettes
• high-rise properties (yes, even ones above 6 floors)
• properties with poor valuations (when the property is in a less than perfect condition)
• non-standard constructions (when the property you want is a little out of the ordinary)
• ... as well as the more usual brick built houses, flats and maisonettes

Key features

• Our consumer buy-to-let products are available as a first charge remortgage, or as a second charge secured loan
• First charge available from £5,000 to £2,000,000, with rates from 5.99%
• Tiered ICR from 125%
• No affordability assessment required where the applicants’ rental income meets the required interest coverage ratio
• No maximum age restriction where the applicants’ rental income meets the required interest coverage ratio
• Adverse credit profiles considered
• Interest-only repayment options available

With added value

We don't hit you with early repayment charges if you want to pay off your consumer buy-to-let mortgage early. 

Overall cost for comparison

For example: A mortgage of £70,000 payable over 13 years on our variable rate for the loan term of 13 years at our current rate of 7.49% (variable) would require 156 monthly payments of £756.13 plus a redemption administration fee of £150.00.

The total amount payable would be £118,105.88 made up of the loan amount plus interest on the loan (£39,726.40), processing fee (£3,500.00) and arrangement fee (£1,750.00) plus interest on these fees (£2,979.48) and the redemption administration fee (£150.00).

The overall cost for comparison is 9.2% APRC representative.

The actual rate available will depend upon your circumstances. Ask us for a personalised illustration.

7 steps to getting a consumer buy-to-let mortgage

When you apply for a consumer buy-to-let mortgage with us, one of our qualified mortgage advisers will guide you through each step of the process:

1. We’ll make sure we understand your circumstances fully before recommending a suitable mortgage. If you’re happy, you’ll receive a ‘mortgage illustration’ providing all the relevant details about the product you’re applying for.
2. Our mortgage advisers will take you through the full application process. We’ll tell you exactly what you need to do, and when, including sending us supporting documentation. For example, proof of rental income.
3. When we have everything we need, we’ll assess your application and supporting information.
4. Then a surveyor will visit the property to ensure it’s mortgage-worthy.
5. If it is, we’ll make you a mortgage offer, which means we’ve accepted your mortgage application.
6. Our advisers will tell you what’s happening at each stage and, importantly, you’ll have their contact details if you want to get in touch.
7. Completion is the date we’ll transfer the mortgage funds to your solicitor (if you're remortgaging the property) or to you (for second charge consumer buy-to-let mortgages).

Our consumer buy-to-let criteria

We provide our consumer buy-to-let mortgage based on the following criteria. These statements are in priority order, so for example if someone owns a buy-to-let property already (No 4) and inherits a further property (No 7), the application will not be a consumer buy-to-let, and would instead be a standard buy-to-let.

1. The borrower or a ‘related person’ does not occupy any part of the property.
2. The borrower is an Individual, Partnership of 3 or fewer persons, or an un-incorporated body.
3. The loan is not to purchase the security.
4. The borrower does not own any other rental properties.
5. The transaction is ‘let-to-buy’.
6. The borrower or a ‘related person’  (husband, wife, partner, child, parent, grand child, grand parent, sibling) has lived in the property since it was last purchased.
7. The property was inherited.

Our lending criteria

• Maximum LTV (loan to value) – 75%
• Maximum loan – £2,000,000 (first charge) and £500,000 (second charge)
• Borrow over 3 to 40 years
• Maximum age –no maximum age providing rental income covers 120% of total secured lending repayments
• Credit profile – CCJs and Defaults accepted (even in the last 12 months)
• Income types – employed, self-employed, temporary/zero-hour contracts, DWP benefits, pension
• All property types considered – non-standard construction, ex-council, and high-rise over 6 floors (must be >40% residential use)