Landlords time to re-mortgage?

Landlords are being urged to review their existing deals after it was revealed that re-mortgage opportunities continue to flourish in the post-Brexit vote world.

Buy-to-let re-mortgage applications were more successful in the three months to the end of November than in the previous 3 months, despite uncertainty caused by the Brexit vote in June.

In the third quarter of the year, 80% of re-mortgage applications resulted in an offer, with 83% moving on to complete. These are very strong figures and go to prove the buy-to-let market is still very much alive. The news should encourage Landlords who up until now have only been wondering whether they should look into re-mortgaging or not.

Landlords have confidence:

Buy-to-let confidence is beginning to return at the end of 2016 as landlords prepare for a turbulent 2017.

2016 has been a rollercoaster ride for the UK’s private rented sector, with the ride mostly going the wrong way for landlords, thanks to a string of measures introduced by the Government to clamp down on buy-to-lets. In April 2016, a new stamp duty surcharge was introduced for second home purchases, including buy-to-let properties; the Bank of England is beginning to take steps to tighten buy-to-let mortgage lending; and April 2017 marks the beginning of a phased reduction of mortgage interest tax relief for investors, which will leave landlords paying tax on their revenue, rather than profit, impacting the viability of a buy-to-let investment.

Buy-to-let re-mortgage time to review:

Landlords are moving fast to re-mortgage their properties taking advantage of the record low rate mortgages currently on offer. If the rumours are correct homeowners are facing increased interest rates in 2017. This on top of all the other Government measures aimed at landlords spells just one thing, increased costs. Current figures show for the last 3 months some 26% of landlords have either re-mortgaged or have a pending application to do so.

The attractive low rates on offer are driving landlords to review their current financial situation now more than ever before. A great many of the re-mortgages are to fixed rates with 2 and 3 year deals being the most popular. This would indicate many landlords are looking for fixed outgoings over the next few years, this may well be a very wise move in the longer term.

Rates falling again:

The cost of most mainstream buy-to-let mortgages have seen further reductions over the past three months. Industry experts are saying rates could be at a level now that will never be seen again thus it could be a very good time to take advantage of a long term fixed deal.

Mortgage analysis show that the cost of a two-year fixed buy-to-let mortgage with an 80% loan to value (LTV) is now 3.2% lower than it was in August 2016. With an average current rate of 3.34% (as of 1st November 2016) the reduction in cost equates to a potential annualised saving of over £300 on a £150k mortgage.