The lender stated the capacity to borrow above £5 million would still be available, subject to approval, through its Portfolio Plus facility. The limits for individual BTL loans remain unchanged.
Andrew Moss, product development manager for MEX, said: “We made the decision to increase to £5 million in order to respond to the needs of our portfolio customers, many of whom are looking to acquire more properties.
“The BTL market remains buoyant as we move into 2007. Our BTL confidence survey indicates that over half of our customers are planning to expand their portfolios in the coming months and our increased lending limit will make it easier for them to do so.”
Brian Poole, mortgage adviser for A M Ruthven & Associates, commented: “The move is probably partly to do with rising prices and partly to try and attract the larger investors. There’s always a risk of the market becoming saturated in more regional areas, as so many are jumping on the BTL bandwagon. Normally, when a lender does something significant, others will follow, so it’s unlikely to be so dramatic a change.”
