West One Launches Bespoke Buy-to-Let Service and Overhauls Product Range
West One has made the largest set of changes to its Buy-to-Let mortgages since it first offered them in 2019, including a new service for complicated cases and wider lending criteria.
The new Bespoke Buy-to-Let Service is a specialist team of experienced underwriters dedicated to portfolio landlords and investors with more involved borrowing needs. The team will manage each case personally from application to completion, liaising with legal firms, and will work with brokers to design tailored products for professional landlords. Cases it will handle include high-value loans of up to £15 million, offshore SPVs, share purchase agreements, development exits, portfolio applications, and large HMOs or multi-unit blocks. Application fees are discounted where several loans are applied for together.
The lender has also simplified its product line-up so brokers can find the right option more easily. A new range for small HMOs and multi-unit blocks of up to three beds or units comes with lower pricing, and rates have been cut across products for foreign nationals, first-time buyers, expats, holiday lets and large HMOs and multi-unit blocks.
Credit criteria have been relaxed for landlords with imperfect records, with more options for those who have unsecured arrears, CCJs, defaults or mortgage arrears, and new options for people with discharged IVAs and debt management plans.
Other changes include loan-to-value of up to 80% for corporate lets, and the ability for foreign nationals living in the UK, among them people holding a Skilled Worker visa or a Health and Care Worker visa, to borrow in their own names. Larger standard maximum loans are now available for holiday lets, expats, first-time buyers, and large HMOs and multi-unit blocks, and the minimum property value is now £75,000. All changes take effect straight away.
Marie Grundy, Managing Director, Mortgages at West One, called it the most extensive revision of the range the lender has carried out. She said the bespoke team would give brokers direct access to specialists who understand complex landlords, and that the redesigned range offers lower pricing and more choice for borrowers with weaker credit.
