Buy to Let Mortgages

Analysis by moneysupermarket.com shows the number of buy-to-let products has dropped by close to a quarter in the past week, throwing down a major challenge to a struggling sector of the market.

NLA Mortgages, the free-to-use online sourcing and quotation system which also offers a significant cashback for landlords, is now making daily checks across the mortgage market to find the best mortgage products for UK landlords.

New buy-to-let lending declined in the first half of 2008, with the sector affected by the same conditions constraining the wider mortgage market, according to new data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

Mortgage products available for buy to let borrowers have dwindled from 4,384 to 307 in the past year. On top of the scarcity of products, buy to letters face steeper interest rates on those still available, according to figures from price comparison site moneysupermarket.com.

Woolwich is substantially reducing the interest rates of key buy to let mortgages, with the portfolio lifetime tracker reduced by 0.40 percentage points, and the five year fixed rate mortgage reduced by 0.50 percentage points.

Foreign banks are cleaning up at the higher end of the buy-to-let market, according to wealth manager and investment/mortgage planner HFM Columbus.

Research from price comparison website moneysupermarket.com shows five per cent more people are renting properties now than in October last year.

Newcastle Building Society has announced the launch of its new Day 1 bridging product which is designed to provide a fast bridging option for buy to let investors.

Brokers remain bullish about the prospects of professional buy to let landlords, new research from The Mortgage Works has found.

The National Landlords Association (NLA), the UK's leading trade association for landlords, has launched a brand new service for all landlords, called NLA Mortgages.

GE Money Home Lending is to cut rates on some of its key buy to let mortgage products through its First National and First National Direct 2U brands as part of a revamp of its BTL product portfolio.

Alliance & Leicester is launching a new range of residential and Buy to Let products, which will be available via brokers, branches and Mortgage Direct from Friday 11 April 2008.

The Mortgage Works has been voted best fixed rate buy to let provider at this year's Business Moneyfacts awards, held last week in London.

Steven Marks, Lending and Operations Executive at Newcastle Building Society, comments on the CML figures: “The CML figures for the second half of 2007 reinforce the point that the buy to let market continues to be a core part of the overall UK mortgage market, with buy to let making up 10% of the total number of mortgages outstanding.

UCB Home Loans has reduced rates across its range of rental cover buy to let products.