The Harpenden Building Society has introduced new versions of its holiday let and second home mortgages with improved rates and higher LTVs.

The products are as follows:

• 2.99% – two-year discount – ERC
• 3.49% – two-year discount – No ERC
• Holiday let – 75% REP / 70% IO + P&P
• Second home – 80% REP/ 75% IO + P&P

Added benefits include the ability to purchase a property that would have previously been labelled as a consumer buy-to-let, as a holiday let qualifies for themore attractive criteria that comes with this lending category.

There are no restrictions on location for the property purchase.

Manual underwriting provides a more in-depth review of the customer’s financial position and the customer’s earned income is considered from a range of sources in addition to salary, including their savings, investments and a portion of the expected rental income when a lending decision is made.

The Harpenden says it also takes a holistic view of the applicant’s financial circumstances to ensure they have surplus income and funds available to afford the mortgage and the holiday let running costs for up to three months – safeguarding the customer’s ability to repay the loan if the property is unexpectedly without visitors for short periods.

The Harpenden’s mortgages for holiday lets are available for purchase, re-mortgage or release of equity to include short term holiday letting. A minimum income of £30k is required.

Craig Middleton, the Harpenden’s mortgage sales manager, said: “We’re delighted to launch new, improved products in this space. The holiday let and related markets are seeing unprecedented growth as the UK ‘staycation’ remains the holiday of choice for many Brits. High returns can be secured by those marketing their short-term rental properties currently.

“The popularity of renting holiday lets; the associated tax breaks linked to this type of property plus wider benefits like providing holiday accommodation for friends and family, are currently delivering strong returns for savvy investors and explains the strong uptake of holiday let mortgages right now.”

“As with our full mortgage range, the holiday lets and second home products are manually underwritten, allowing us to review applications in greater detail, taking a deeper dive into income with a view to being able to say ‘yes’, when some high street lenders may reject a complex mortgage application. We look forward to supporting our broker partners as they use our improved products to secure new business with their customers.”