Buy-to-let lender Keystone Property Finance has reintroduced a number of five-year fixed rate mortgages to its product range after withdrawing from the market at the end of September.
The move comes as mortgage lenders began to cut their interest rates last week, as gilt yields, swap rates and the price of natural gas all began to trend down.
The lender’s range of fixed rates are available for standard and specialist properties with rates starting at 6.99 per cent for standard buy-to-let properties.
Keystone’s managing director, Elise Coole said she is confident the lender’s range can stand its own against what other specialist lenders are currently offering.
“Our new range has options for all landlords, whether they’re buying or refinancing a standard, specialist or holiday let property,” Coole said, adding that a standout feature of the product range is the flexibility it allows.
“It provides a great deal of flexibility to borrowers who have recently taken out one of our variable rate loans. Using our ‘switch and fix’ initiative, these borrowers can move onto one of our new fixed rate mortgages fee-free."
"We believe this sort of flexibility is perfect for someone who believes that variable rates will continue to rise in the short-to-medium term and wants certainty over their repayments,” she said.
The lender is offering two arrangement fee options.
The lowest rates in the range come with a 3 per cent arrangement fee, but landlords can opt to pay an additional 20 basis points on their rate in exchange for a smaller arrangement fee of 2 per cent.
For example, the lowest rate in the standard fixed rate range is 6.99 per cent at 65 per cent loan-to-value, which comes with a 3 per cent arrangement fee. However, a 2 per cent arrangement fee version is available for 7.19 per cent.
Borrowers using Keystone’s ‘switch and fix’ initiative will not have to pay any fees and can choose from any of the lender’s fixed rates that have a 2 per cent arrangement.
Keystone was one of many lenders forced to pull its products from the market and re-price its interest rates following September’s “mini” Budget.
At the time, many in the industry warned that the turmoil would accelerate the process of landlords’ exiting the buy-to-let space.
jane.matthews@ft.com
