Buy-to-let & portfolio

Standard buy-to-let

The bread-and-butter product: borrowing to purchase or refinance a property you intend to let to tenants on an assured periodic tenancy. Lending decisions are driven mainly by the rent the property can achieve rather than your personal income – though most lenders will still want to see that you earn at a sensible level alongside the rental.

The numbers work differently to a residential mortgage. Lenders apply a rental stress test (often called ICR – interest coverage ratio) to make sure the rent comfortably covers the mortgage interest with headroom to spare. That, plus the loan-to-value cap, usually determines what you can borrow rather than your salary.

Whether to hold a BTL in your personal name or via a limited company is the question we get asked most often. It used to be a straightforward choice; since the changes to how mortgage interest is treated for individual landlords, it's now much more case-by-case.

Limited company (SPV) buy-to-let

A growing share of landlords now buy through a limited company – usually a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) set up just to hold property. Personal name versus limited company has tax consequences; your accountant should advise on which structure suits you.

We don't give tax advice. Once the structure decision is made, we make sure the mortgage side is set up correctly with a lender that's comfortable with SPV lending and the directors involved.

Holiday lets

A separate market from standard BTL. Holiday let mortgages are designed for properties let on a short-term basis – typically through platforms like Airbnb or to direct holiday bookings – rather than to long-term tenants. Lenders assess affordability based on projected seasonal income rather than a single monthly rent figure.

Fewer lenders operate in this space than in standard BTL, and criteria vary. Tax treatment of holiday lets can also differ from standard BTL – another reason to take proper tax advice alongside the mortgage conversation.

Worth noting: holiday let mortgages aren't regulated by the FCA in the same way as residential mortgages.

Portfolio landlords

If you own four or more mortgaged buy-to-let properties, lenders treat you as a portfolio landlord – which means the whole portfolio gets assessed, not just the property you're borrowing against. Expect to provide a portfolio schedule listing every property, rents, mortgages, LTVs, and a cashflow showing the whole picture stacks up.

Different lenders handle portfolios in very different ways. Some cap the number of properties you can hold with them; some cap your total borrowing across the market; some are happy with large portfolios but only at certain LTVs; some want background portfolios to stress-test at a higher rate than the new property. A handful of lenders genuinely specialise in portfolio landlords and can take a more rounded view.

For experienced landlords, we'll often look at the portfolio as a whole rather than property-by-property – which lenders are about to come off their fix, where there's equity that could be released, which properties are sitting on rates that aren't competitive any more, and whether consolidating with one or two lenders simplifies the admin. Sometimes the answer is a single refinance; sometimes it's a sequence of moves over the next year or two.

How we help

A short call usually clears up which route fits. From there we'll get the figures, run the stress tests in the background, and shortlist lenders that match the setup – personal, SPV, holiday let, HMO, multi-unit freehold, or a mix across a portfolio.

We coordinate with your accountant where the tax structure matters and with your solicitor where there's anything unusual in the conveyancing – newly incorporated SPVs, transfers between names, or properties with non-standard tenancies.

When you are ready, the fact-find is the quickest way to tell us about your situation – we will come back with sensible next steps and no obligation.

Start your fact-find →