In a very well received message to all mortgage brokers registered, buy-to-let lender The Mortgage Works (TMW) have announced that they will be the latest in a long line of mortgage lenders who are dropping their rates.
In recent weeks, many mortgage lenders have been dropping their rates from the astronomical highs that they were all raised to only a couple of months ago. These drops in rates, especially from big lenders like TMW, are a great sign that the markets are calming down a bit and we should see a return to some sort of normality in the mortgage world. However, it will probably be some time before rates drop to a similar level to where they were before the start of the economic crisis.
TMW, the buy-to-let only arm of Nationwide Building Society, have always taken a larger share than most of the buy-to-let market. Their competitive rates, quick processing times, and easy to use affordability calculators had previously made them stand tall above other lenders when it came to recommendations from mortgage advisors. However, recent rate increases and changes to mortgage affordability criteria has caused TMW to drop off the map a bit. But hopefully the new changes to their rates and products should give them a better standing.
Buy-To-Let Lender Criteria Changes
The changes announced are as follows:
As of Friday the 25th of November, the lender offers –
A 3.89% 1-year fixed product, up to 75% LTV, with a 2% product fee
A 4.29% 2-year fixed product, up to 65% LTV, with a 3% product fee
A 4.69% 5-year fixed product, up to 65% LTV, with a 3% product fee
They have also announced that they will be introducing a new set of fee options across their mortgage range. In addition to products that come with a 3% fee, landlords will be able to choose from reduced fees. These options are either a £1,495 fee or a £0 fee. These will replace the existing products that come with £1,995 and £995 fees.
What Do The Mortgage Experts Think?
Louis Mason from Oportfolio Mortgages in London finds the rate reductions very encouraging:
“Seeing lenders all dropping their rates one after another is of course an amazing sight to see but so far it has only been minimal reductions. However, these changes that TMW, a huge lender in the buy-to-let market, have made is very encouraging to see and we are excited to see what comes next. We predicted that the lenders had over inflated their rates as a result of the BOE upping the base rate, and here is the proof. Lenders are hopefully starting to realise that there is still an appetite for lending and reducing the rates is not a terrible idea.”
If you or anyone you know is worried about interest rates or are just interested in how Oportfolio mortgages could help, please feel free to give our team a call today.
