United Trust Bank (UTB) has announced significant changes to its buy-to-let mortgage criteria, lifting restrictions on portfolio size and expanding the amount it is prepared to lend.
The new rules apply to all purchase and remortgage applications and are aimed at professional landlords with larger holdings.
The lender has removed the cap on the number of properties a landlord can own and increased its maximum lending to £2.5m, while allowing up to six properties to be mortgaged with UTB at any one time.
Additional requirements have been introduced for borrowers with larger portfolios. Landlords with more than 10 properties must now provide a cashflow statement, while those with more than 20 or with portfolios valued above £5m will also need to supply a business plan. UTB has created a standard template to simplify the process.
Buster Tolfree, director of mortgages at UTB, said: “These changes give brokers more choice when helping landlord clients with larger portfolios.
“We were the first lender to make it easier and quicker for brokers to submit applications for portfolio landlords when we introduced our buy-to-let portal and now we’re lifting the limits on what we’ll lend and who we’ll lend to.
“We want to give more landlords the opportunity to take advantage of rental property opportunities many other lenders won’t consider.
“Non-standard construction, touching or close to commercial, high-rise apartments – these can all be great choices for expanding rental portfolios, delivering great yields and often at lower outlay.”
