Brokers say Santander’s broker arm Abbey for Intermediaries has plans to offer buy-to-let products up to 75% loan to value to landlords with one to three properties and will cap arrangement fees at £1,000 as opposed to charging a percentage fee.
Santander has been rumoured to be about to launch into buy-to-let for over a year but a source from a national network said this is the second delay this year, the first being in April.
Brokers and lenders already in the buy-to-let market have been clamouring for a third large lender to get into the sector to heat up competition properly.
Today Andy Castle, corporate account manager at The Mortgage Works, Nationwide’s buy-to-let and broker arm, revealed his estimates of existing market shares for the biggest buy-to-let lenders at the Mortgage Intelligence annual conference in Wales.
He said: “We believe TMW has about 30% market share while we think BM Solutions does around 40% and Coventry about 10%.
“We’re awaiting Abbey’s entry into the market and I think that will shake things up – when it happens.”
RBS is also rumoured to be thinking about a buy-to-let launch.
Santander has not confirmed that it is to enter the buy-to-let market though it has said it is looking at the sector.
