First 4 Bridging

Brokerage First 4 Bridging has launched a semi-exclusive BTL product with Castle Trust Bank.

The five-year fixed-rate product offers loans between £150,000 and £2m up to 75% LTV on a 4.5% interest rate, with a two-year ERC and 2% arrangement fee.

The ICR calculation can be based on the product rate, but also gives landlords the opportunity to refinance or sell after two years without penalty.

It is available to individuals (including first-time and portfolio landlords), sole traders, limited companies, LLPs and partnerships for residential and remortgage purposes.

It covers a number of BTL investment vehicles, including holiday lets, HMOs, portfolio loans and property refurbishment. 

The product is offered via a select group of distribution partners.

“We are experiencing a huge uplift in activity levels across all areas of the BTL sector as a range of investors continue to take advantage of some favourable market conditions, highly competitive rates and strong service levels, especially from specialist lenders,” said Donna Wells, director at First 4 Bridging.

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“Many landlords are looking for lenders with flexibility on how interest is serviced and who have the appetite to make lending decisions based on some unconventional circumstances. 

“As such, Castle Trust Bank has become a great option for many, and we fully expect this to be a popular product among new and existing intermediary partners when servicing the needs of their landlord clients.”

Rob Oliver, sales director at Castle Trust Bank, added: “When we chose the distributors to offer this semi-exclusive product, we wanted to partner with firms that match our own commitment to excellent service, and the team at First 4 Bridging fit the bill. 

“We’re looking forward to working together with them to help more property investors unlock even more opportunities.”

Foundation Home Loans

Foundation Home Loans (FHL) has cut the product fees on three of its limited edition limited company BTL products.

The F1 two-year fixed-rate loan at 2.99% and F2 HMO two-year fixed-rate offering at 3.34%, which are available at up to 75% LTV, have seen product fees reduced from 1% to 0.75%.

Meanwhile, the product fee for the lender’s F1 five-year fixed-rate loan at 3.24% up to 75% LTV was cut from 1.5% to 1%.

The F1 range is available for those with no county court judgements, defaults or mortgage arrears within the last two years, while the F2 range is for clients with more recent blips on their credit record.

“Cutting the fees on the products allows us to provide an ultra-competitive limited company offering to those landlord borrowers utilising these vehicles to either purchase or remortgage,” said George Gee, commercial director at FHL.

The new fees represent up to 1.25% off the finance provider’s standard BTL product fees.

The limited edition limited company range offers loans from £200,000 to £1m.

FHL welcomes portfolio landlords and has no limit to the background portfolio size for each borrower, subject to a maximum of £3m with the lender. 

FHL uses an ICR calculation at 125% for limited company mortgages, available at a pay rate for five-year fixed rates and 5.5% for the two-year fixes.

George added: “We’re acutely aware that landlords want to keep such costs as low as possible and coupled with the compelling rates and criteria — particularly around loan size, background portfolio and ICR – we believe we are offering an excellent range of options to these borrowers.”