Research out today (Thursday, June 6th) from online mortgage
broker, Property Master, reveals the cost of the majority of
fixed rate buy-to-let
mortgages look to have begun a drift upwards. Property Master warned
last month this was likely following the decision by the Bank of England to
revise upwards its forecasts for growth in the UK economy. This has been
widely seen as the Bank positioning itself for more increases in base rate than
the financial markets had previously been forecasting.
Angus Stewart, Property Master’s Chief Executive, said: “It looks very much as if the Bank fired the gun on
interest rate rises in its Inflationary Report last month. We have seen
in our most recent Mortgage Tracker increases in the monthly cost of five out
of the six categories of fixed rate buy-to-let mortgages we track. Of
course, a great deal of uncertainty persists as Brexit is still not resolved
and now the search is on for a new Prime Minister.”
Mr Stewart continued: “There
is some comfort for landlords facing increased rates in that competition
amongst mortgage lenders for business has been fierce in recent years and that
has fuelled the growth in the number of buy-to-let mortgage offerings to a ten-year
high. There are an estimated more than 2,100 products to choose from but
with lending criteria varying considerably between the operators landlords
cannot assume that all of these possibilities are open to them.”
News of Property
Master’s Mortgage Tracker picking up increases in the cost of buy-to-let
fixed rate mortgages comes in the week the new Tenant Fees Act comes into
force. “Increases in mortgage costs are
particularly unwelcome in the current climate of rising regulatory costs,” said
Angus Stewart, Property Master’s Chief Executive. “This new Act which bans landlords and letting agencies
from charging fees to tenants for things such as referencing,
inventories and contracts, and limits deposits to five weeks’ rent continue
still further the squeeze on landlord finances.”
Property Master’s June 2019 Mortgage Tracker shows the
monthly cost of five-year fixed rate buy-to-let mortgage offers for 50% of the
value of a property was up by £7 in June compared to the previous month of
May. Five-year fixed rates for 65% of the value of a property increased
month on month by £5. Five-year fixed rates buy-to-let
mortgage offers for 75% of the value of a property was the only one of six
categories tracked to fall in monthly cost but then only by £1. The three
categories of two-year fixed rate buy-to-let mortgages tracked all increased
with the largest rise being £6 per month.
The Property Master Mortgage Tracker follows a range of buy-to-let
mortgages for an interest-only loan of £150,000. Deals from 18 of
some of the biggest lenders in the buy-to-let market including Barclays, BM
Solutions, RBS, The Mortgage Works, Godiva and Precise (full list below) were
tracked. Figures for this month’s Mortgage Tracker were calculated
on deals available on June 1, 2019.
Property
Master was launched almost two years ago and aims to shake up the
buy-to-let mortgage market currently served by around 12,000 mortgage
brokers. It has already attracted financial backing from a broad range of
private investors including a minority stake being taken by LSL Property
Services, whose estate and letting agency brands include Your Move and Reeds
Rains.
Property Master has automated what was a manual, complex
process to provide landlords with a free easy to use mortgage search tool which
provides a mortgage quote that is pre-screened against each lender’s specific
and changing criteria.
So, you’re ready to let your property out. What’s the best way to get started?
Every landlord is looking for ways to maximise the revenue and profitability of their property. Here are a few tips to help that happen.
It is definitely true to say that, over the past five years, the BTL game has changed. Increasingly onerous taxation and legislation and regulation have driven a “professionalisation” of the sector.
