Mortgage News

Article by Piers Colegate of Harrison Financial Services

As a mortgage broker (and fellow landlord) working in the Buy to Let finance market recently has proved challenging. Regulatory changes and lenders’ often pessimistic responses have made it harder for landlords to achieve the borrowing they needed to move their portfolios forward. However there is cause for optimism as we begin the new year.

Firstly the result of the recent general election and the certainty it brings will at least, ensure we know of the direction of the economy. Certainty simplifies the decision making process.

Secondly a recent survey by TMW, the specialist Buy to Let Lender, demonstrated that landlords in the South West are feeling more positive about their rental yields than anywhere else in the country. The same survey showed South West Landlords are more likely to report seeing tenant demand increase when compared to other regions (26% vs. 22%). These are encouraging figures indeed.

Finally many Buy to Let lenders have begun to relax their lending criteria, particularly in respect to affordability calculations, and so landlords will have more options in respect to the financing of their portfolio as we enter 2020.

As with all optimism I suggest it is underwritten with caution and best advice, whatever your hopes for 2020 I wish you good fortune.