Today (April 18) the online lender launched a buy-to-let remortgage option which is available up to 80 per cent loan to value and on two-year or five-year fixed rates.
Initial rates allow those with a 30 per cent deposit to have a 3.44 per cent rate on a two-year fix or 3.70 per cent on a five-year, and there are no valuation or application fees.
The products cater for individual, houses of multiple occupation and multi unit block, as well as those who hold property in a limited company, and the policy allows the completion fee, which ranges from 1.5 to 2 percent of the loan, to be added to monthly payment avoiding an upfront cost.
The Mortgage Lender aims to provide its buy-to-let remortgage product to non-standard borrowers, such as self-employed workers, those with impaired credit, or older borrowers.
Keith Street, chief commercial officer of The Mortgage Lender (pictured), said: "The buy-to-let mortgage market is changing, purchases are down and remortgages are up.
"We expect that trend to continue and for remortgages to make up as much as two thirds of activity in the market over the next few years.
"Our new product is our response to that change in the market. It addresses the borrower and intermediary need for a simple, easy to execute, real life lending choice for those looking to refinance their BTL properties."
Yesterday, lending trends from UK Finance showed buy-to-let mortgages were on the decline as only 4,800 buy-to-let mortgages completed in February 2019 — 7.7 per cent fewer than in the same month in 2018.
But more people opted to remortgage in the buy-to-let market as 14,400 remortgages, 2.1 per cent more than the same period last year, were completed in the month.
Shaun Church, director at Private Finance, said: "I think it's a great thing there are more options in the market.
"The Mortgage Lender has been an inventive lender in terms of their criteria so if that can apply to this segment of the market then that's great.
"It will also help impact the current increase in buy-to-let remortgaging. It puts another lender in the mix and other lenders will have to respond and follow suit.
"The consumer is the real winner because the lenders constantly compete — that's got to be a good thing."
Rachel Lummis, adviser at Xpress Mortgages, said: "It's great to see The Mortgage Lender launching their new buy-to-let remortgage product range to whole of market intermediaries. The mortgage lender has become a major player in the market since entering the buy-to-let arena back in April 2018."
She added: "The buy-to-let market is forever changing and we have seen an increased appetite for our active landlords to remortgage properties in their portfolios to further expand and purchase more specialist properties which provides a greater yield.
"The Mortgage Lender's range of products and criteria is spot on for the current climate and is very much an option for many landlords looking to refinance."
imogen.tew@ft.com
