Keystone Buy to Let Mortgages has made two major changes to its Classic Range lending criteria following intermediary feedback.

In response to feedback from brokers and investors, Keystone has opened up its offering to accept first-time landlords and trading limited companies.

David Whittaker, managing director of Keystone Buy to Let Mortgages, said: “We talked over the proposed changes with our funding partners, Paratus AMC, and decided that increasing demand for those looking to get into property investment and borrow via a trading limited company was an opportunity not to be missed.

We hope that the introduction of lending to trading companies will help keep costs down for those affected by the Government’s proposed tax relief restrictions.”

Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) limited companies, corporate structures which are designed to hold property but do nothing else, are already part of Keystone’s lending policy. Currently, 23% of buy-to-let lenders offer products to SPVs, but only a handful cater to trading limited companies.

Keystone is also urging brokers to submit their clients’ Classic Range purchase applications as soon as possible in an effort to ensure that cases complete before 1 April 2016, when the new stamp duty surcharge of three percentage points comes into effect.

Although it doesn’t guarantee that all purchase cases will complete within this timeframe, Keystone will prioritise applications that are submitted by 29 January 2016.