Landlord finance

Finance for landlords

Landlords sit awkwardly between residential and commercial lending, and the right structure depends on portfolio size, tax position and how quickly you need to move. We work across the specialist buy-to-let panel to find lenders who actually want landlord business, not just tolerate it.

Category: Sectors & audiences

Product: Private Finance

Loan size: £75k – £10m per facility
LTV: Typically up to 75-80%
Rate basis: ICR-based, from ~5-6.5% (variable by lender/product)
Term: 2-5 year fixed or lifetime tracker

Single property vs portfolio landlords

A landlord with one or two units is assessed largely on the property's rental coverage. Once a portfolio hits four or more mortgaged properties, lenders classify you as a portfolio landlord and require a full background review — total borrowing, overall LTV, void history and cash flow across the whole book. That's where generalist buy-to-let lenders often decline and specialist portfolio lenders step in.

Interest cover ratio pressure

Since rates rose, ICR calculations (typically 125-145% at a stressed rate) have become the binding constraint for many landlords, not deposit size. This has pushed a meaningful share of purchases and remortgages toward limited company structures, where the stress rate and tax treatment are usually more favourable, and toward 5-year fixes which some lenders stress at pay rate rather than a hypothetical higher rate.

Refinancing at the end of a fixed term

Landlords coming off a 2021-22 fixed rate often find the rental income no longer covers the new stressed payment at the same LTV. Options include a rate reduction remortgage, a term extension to lower monthly cost, or a modest capital injection to bring LTV down. We model all three before applying.

HMO and specialist property income

HMOs, holiday lets and multi-unit blocks are priced and assessed differently to standard AST buy-to-lets, and not every lender will touch them. We route these to the panel that actually prices the property type, rather than declining or overpricing it by default.

Frequently asked

Do I need to be a limited company landlord?

Not necessarily — it depends on your tax band, whether you're growing the portfolio, and how many properties you already hold personally. We look at the numbers before recommending a structure; it's not a blanket answer.

What counts as a portfolio landlord?

Most lenders apply the label at four or more mortgaged buy-to-let properties, at which point they assess the whole portfolio's finances rather than just the property being financed.

Can I remortgage if rental income has fallen short of ICR?

Often yes, via a term extension, a lender with a more generous stress rate, or a small capital paydown to reduce the loan. We'll run the numbers against several lenders before committing.

Do you arrange finance for holiday lets?

Yes, though the lender panel is narrower and rental assessment is based on projected seasonal income rather than a standard AST, which changes the numbers considerably.

How fast can a landlord remortgage complete?

A straightforward like-for-like remortgage can complete in 3-5 weeks; portfolio or HMO cases with multiple valuations typically take longer.

Talk to a landlord finance broker

Call 0345 2690628 or send your portfolio details — we'll flag which lenders will actually price your situation.

Call 0345 2690628 Send your deal details