The Mortgage Works has widened its criteria for limited company landlords, allowing directors and shareholders to have more than one special purpose vehicle (SPV) financed through the lender from today, Thursday 22 October.
The lender will now accept applications from directors and shareholders already party to an SPV it finances. The change affects landlords who structure their portfolios across more than one limited company.
It follows a series of changes to limited company lending over the past few years, including accepting intercompany loans, changing its shareholder policy and improving the upfront application process.
The lender also changed its foreign nationals policy last week. For applicants without indefinite leave to remain (ILR), minimum remaining visa validity is now 12 months, down from 30 months. The Mortgage Works has also aligned its acceptable visa types with those of Nationwide.
Foreign nationals with ILR no longer need owner-occupier status when they apply jointly with either a UK citizen or another ILR holder. All other criteria, including loan-to-value and address history requirements, are unchanged.
“Landlords increasingly need greater flexibility in how they structure and manage their property portfolios, and this change gives them exactly that,” said Dan Clinton, head of buy-to-let mortgages at The Mortgage Works. “We’re giving limited company landlords more choice over how they organise their investments and plan for the future.
“Together with our changes for foreign national applicants, these enhancements demonstrate our ongoing commitment to strengthening our proposition to meet the needs of today’s landlords.”
