Together has removed the maximum age limit on its buy-to-let mortgages, where affordability can be satisfied without income from employment.

The lender says that what this means in practice is that a retired customer with, for example, rental income or rental income plus pension, will still have access to borrowing to grow their property portfolio, whereas previously an age limit of 80 applied.

In addition, Together has doubled its maximum loan amount before a referral is required, taking it from £200,000 to £400,000 where applications meet the lending criteria. The changes apply only to first charge buy-to-let products.

Sales director Gary Bailey (pictured) said: “The change regarding the age limit very much ties in with our philosophy of common sense lending.  For some customers, buy-to-lets are likely to form part of their income in retirement, or their chosen form of long-term investment. If the customer can show they have the means to afford the loan for a buy-to-let property, then their age shouldn’t be a barrier, and as a leading specialist lender, we want to ensure we can offer finance to this segment of the market.

“In terms of the new loan size; this will help ensure customers have access to loan amounts that reflect the property market. We believe that we’ll see an increase in applications for larger loan sizes as a result. Together has been at the forefront of supporting property investors borrowing against lower and average size property values for over four decades. However, the rise in loan size will also support those investors looking to borrow against higher value properties, with potential to gain higher rental incomes.”