Accord Mortgages has increased its maximum borrowing limit and overall portfolio size for established landlords.
The lender has tripled its aggregate lending limit from £1m to £3m, while the total number of buy-to-let mortgages a borrower can have with Accord has increased from three to five.
The portfolio size cap of up to 15 properties has also been removed, although a maximum of 10 still applies for mortgaged properties.
Accord’s standard buy-to-let valuation and home buyer report fees have also been reduced, in line with its residential fee structure for greater simplicity.
Nicola Alvarez, corporate account manager, propositions, at Accord Mortgages said: “Supporting landlords throughout the pandemic has been a real priority for us and so we have made the decision to simplify the fee structure by reducing standard valuation and homebuyers fees to align with our residential offering.
“We’ve also made changes to our lending limits for established landlords, offering them more flexibility to manage their property portfolios. We hope by increasing the range of options available, we can help support more brokers and their landlord clients.”
Aly Kassam, director at Easier Finances, said: “Any improved criteria for portfolio landlords is welcome. It has become harder to place portfolio cases with mainstream lenders, with us often having to resort to specialist lenders where a client just falls outside of mainstream criteria, which can come at a significantly higher interest rate.”
The changes from Accord come after West One Loans also increased its borrower limit from £1.5m to £5m this week (February 15).
Research from Foundation Home Loans has suggested that landlords will continue to expand their portfolios after the stamp duty holiday.
chloe.cheung@ft.com
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