It reduces interest rates with amended interest rate bandings
Offshore bank Skipton International has announced changes to its UK buy-to-let criteria, following feedback from brokers and a reassessment of the marketplace.
The lender’s minimum loan size for special purpose vehicle (SPV) lending has been decreased to £100,000, while the maximum number of properties that can be held in the SPV has been increased from two to five.
Interest rates have also been reduced, with interest rate bandings amended by the bank. The lowest banding – also the highest rate – has been removed. The new bandings are from £100,000 up to £399,999, and £400,000 and above, effectively reducing the top banding from £500,000 to £400,000. This is for all applications both in personal names and SPVs.
In addition, Skipton has increased the number of buy-to-let properties held in a portfolio, from five up to 10, excluding one residential only. This is a maximum of 10 at the end of the transaction if a purchase or – if a remortgage – to release equity to purchase another BTL, it needs to include this onward purchase.
The lender stressed that all other portfolio landlord criteria remained the same as before and could be found on the intermediary section of Skipton International’s website.
Earlier this year, the Guernsey-headquartered bank hit the £2 billion mortgage milestone, with over 50% of balances coming from its UK buy-to-let mortgage proposition.
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