Non-portfolio criteria

Any fees added to the loan will be taken into account for higher LTV applications and included within the maximum loan available and LTV calculations. The total amount of loan plus any fees added must not exceed 80% LTV.

*Varied for some products, see product features

A lending limit of £1,000,000 (including any fees added to the loans) will apply and each applicant must own no more than three mortgaged residential investment properties, in both personal name or corporate entity, regardless of lender, including any proposed application.

Applications will be considered for a maximum of two individuals in their personal names.

No limited company or limited liability partnership applications. This type of application must be submitted as portfolio, even if the customer is classified as non-portfolio under PRA regulation.

We will not consider applications where the applicant is purchasing a property from an associated limited company.

Applications for houses of multiple occupation and multi-unit blocks must be submitted through our portfolio application process, even if the customer is classified as non-portfolio under PRA regulation.

Properties must have a minimum Energy Performance Certificate rating of E, unless there is an applicable exemption.

This will be verified by Paragon and the acting solicitor and we will not be able to lend on any property that is found not to be compliant.

Applicant(s) should have a minimum combined gross annual income of £25,000 per annum.

The useable income figure in respect of Land and Property income will be derived by deducting the total amount of ‘Residential finance costs’ from the ‘Taxable profit for the year’ figure, in line with current tax calculation requirements.​

All income must be evidenced and can include:

• Gross employment income
• Taxable self-employed income
• Occupational/private and state pension​

Income from renting property, state benefits and investments will not be considered, but may be taken into account when calculating the tax band applicable to the applicant.

Any fees that will be added to the loan will be included in the loan amount used in both current and future affordability calculations.

The gross rental income from the property should equal or exceed the Interest Coverage Ratio as determined by the tax band applicable to an applicant’s income. The tax band applicable to the applicant with the highest income will be used.

The tax band and ICR levels are as follows:

To cater for the PRA affordability regulation, we will now require a property schedule to be completed as part of the online application in every case (a copy of this is available on our documents page for your information). We will also need to ask for more information about your customer’s income to enable us to apply the appropriate tax band and ICR to the affordability assessment.

Future affordability will be taken into account for all applications, and therefore may limit the maximum loan amount available. Before submitting an application, please ensure you use our online calculator to check how much we may be able to lend your clients.

The future affordability assessment will be based on our current understanding of interest rates going forward and rental inflation. We must be satisfied that the applicant(s) are able to withstand increases in mortgage interest rates, cover rental voids and be able to afford the mortgage now and after any fixed/discounted period expires.

We will accept applications that qualify as consumer buy-to-let mortgage contracts, subject to appropriate criteria being met.

More information concerning consumer buy-to-let can be found here.