We believe that as a leading lender we must be able to demonstrate that we’re using the most up to date technology and continue to improve the service we offer. Our online platform stands out as one of the most advanced in the market and demonstrates our commitment to improvement. But we don’t want to forget our Landbay team as without them no amount of online excellence can function effectively. The most obvious examples are our underwriters. Underwriting algorithms and box ticking, to speed up the process, might be OK for some but we know how frustrating it is for brokers to see perfectly vi ..read more

Leaving the pandemic to one side, the BTL sector is in good health. The value of the private rented sector (PRS) in England, Wales and Scotland grew by 5.8% to £1.4trn in the last year, according to research by Shawbrook Bank.  A positive picture - but there are challenges and opportunities ahead. Among them is the need, by 2025, for all rental properties to meet stricter energy efficiency ratings for new tenancies. They must achieve an EPC certification rating of C or above, which will also apply to all existing tenancies from 2028.  This initiative is part of the government’s green ..read more

An exclusive Landbay webinar with David Smith, economics editor of The Sunday Times. Hosted by John Goodall. Join David Smith, economics editor of The Sunday Times, alongside John Goodall, CEO of Landbay, and out what's likely to happen in 2022 and how it may affect you and your clients.  Topics include: Inflation and interest rates The housing market and property price predictions Economic growth The ongoing impacts of Brexit and Covid-19 ..read more

2021 started in the middle of a lockdown and at the time, no one would have wanted to bet on prospects for the immediate future. Fast forward to December and we are delighted to report that Landbay has had an exceptional year. We were fortunate to have already invested heavily in a fully online process, enabling us to continue working remotely.  We were able to move out of lockdown and provide the products and service to help our introducers really take advantage of the purchase frenzy helped by the SDLT holiday. Landbay has experienced another year of strong growth in which we passed the ..read more

One of the minor stories in the press this month was about a brokerage which had decided that it would no longer market BTL products to customers. The company felt that its primary mission to help people onto or up the housing ladder was incompatible with also helping landlords to get finance which, in their view, took property out of reach of those whose goal is home ownership. In certain quarters that might be seen to be a principled stand but what we need to remind ourselves is the important role played by the private rental sector (PRS) in the provision of good quality rented accommodation ..read more

From 1 April 2020, landlords can no longer let or continue to let properties covered by the MEES Regulations if they have an EPC rating below E, unless they have a valid exemption in place. New regulations must be applied to privately rented property and they must comply with the 2018 ‘Minimum Level of Energy Efficiency’ standard (EPC band E). The Government also plans to increase the requirement to a 'C' rating for all new tenancies by 2025, and by 2028 for existing tenancies. In our session we will discuss the new EPC regulations for landlords. We will also look at challenges, benefits, exe ..read more

Buying more terraced properties Our mortgage book shows that landlords are not only seeking better yields by searching beyond their own regions but also reversing the trend of buying more flats than terraced properties. Between February to August this year, our mortgage book for new loans averaged 36% for flats and 41% for terraced housing, including end of terrace. When compared to the same period last year flats accounted for 47% of our BTL loans with terraces at 27%. The rest of the loans are on semi-detached houses followed by detached plus a handful of bungalows and cottages. Landlords ar ..read more

An exclusive session co-hosted by Landbay and L&G featuring Bret Mason, the Underwriting Manager at Landbay, to discuss intermediaries' most significant challenges when placing buy-to-let cases. In this session, we review different case studies to discover the best practices, hints, and tips to manage the entire underwriting process efficiently.  Topics include: Why drip-feeding documentation is not the best way Tips to improve your mortgage application success rate Common problems caused by pre-discussed cases Top causes of valuation delays ..read more

As the holiday season gives way to autumn, brokers across the UK will be weighing up the prospects for the coming quarter and looking ahead to 2022. The BTL sector has experienced an extremely busy year so far and the seeds of that success were down to three main factors. Stamp duty holiday The second withdrawal phase of the SDLT holiday will finally breathe its last at the end of September. While some claim that the property market would have been buoyant even without the holiday, it provided a particular catalyst for landlords to re-enter the purchase market. It was an opportunity for everyo ..read more

After many predictions over the past few years that the BTL market would go into a terminal decline, the reality is that, mortgage borrowing for the private rental market has reached a record high.   There were 2.02 million outstanding BTL mortgages at the end of June, up from 1.65 million at the end of 2014, according to the banking trade body UK Finance. However, if we want to see what is in prospect for the market in the immediate future, certain factors need to be considered, the biggest of which is the end of the stamp duty holiday. The holiday was definitely a welcome catalyst to ho ..read more