Landlords should act now!

The National Landlords Association (NLA) is urging landlords to re-mortgage, before it becomes a whole lot more difficult. Be sure to seek professional advice as it is not always best advice to re-mortgage as your existing deal may have penalties.

Obtaining new finance

The newest measures follow earlier attempts by the Bank of England's Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) to cool the buy-to-let (BTL) market. And indeed, it's already having an impact, as 43% of landlords recently surveyed by the NLA stated that the process of obtaining finance has become more difficult since the start of the year.

So, while the average fixed buy-to-let rate may be down from both the start of the year (3.34%) and last August (3.53%), standing at 3.22% this month according to recent data. Landlords haven't had much to cheer about, as 53% reported to the NLA that they've had to provide additional evidence to support their mortgage applications. This included tax returns, cash flow forecasts and even business plans.

So why re-mortgage now?

Since it's already become harder to obtain a new BTL mortgage deal, you may be asking yourself what re-mortgaging now could do to reduce the impact of the upcoming and past regulatory changes. Well, for one, the average fixed BTL rate for re-mortgagors stands at 3.29% today, data reveals, not much higher than the overall average rate and therefore certainly worth considering.

And of course, there could even better deals to be found that suit your needs. You wouldn't be the only one re-mortgaging either as statistics show that re-mortgaging accounted for over two-thirds of total buy-to-let lending in June and July, as it has done ever since the stamp duty changes on second properties came into effect last year.

Can we help?

If you would like to review your current mortgage or indeed require a new deal please do make contact and one of our advisers will be happy to assist.