Residential and buy to let

Mortgages for homes and portfolios

Whether you are buying your first flat or refinancing a portfolio held in a limited company, the lending is only as good as the case put in front of the underwriter. That is the part we do.

Who we advise: Employed, self-employed, company directors, contractors, and landlords in personal names or limited companies.
How we are paid: A fee for advice, confirmed in writing before you apply, and commission from the lender where it is paid.
Regulated status: Directly authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, Register number 933918.
Where we work: Mayfair and Beaconsfield, advising clients across London, the Home Counties and further afield.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

Residential mortgages

Buying and refinancing a home

A residential mortgage rests on three things: the deposit you have, the income a lender will accept, and whether the property is acceptable security. Applicants usually focus on the first and are caught out by the second and third.

Where income cases go wrong. Lenders treat the same money differently. Bonus, commission, overtime, dividends, retained profit, a second job, income in a foreign currency, and a recently changed contract are all read differently from one lender to the next. A case that fails affordability at one lender can be comfortable at another with no change to your circumstances — only a change in how the income is assessed. Getting that judgement right before applying is most of the job.

Where property cases go wrong. A valuation can come back with a retention, a request for a specialist report, or a comment about construction type, flying freehold, a short lease or cladding. Some lenders will not proceed at all; others will, with conditions. When that happens we do not start again from zero — we place the case where the surveyor's comments are already within appetite.

Remortgaging. Most people come to us because a fixed rate is ending. It is worth starting early, because a remortgage takes longer than people expect once legal work and a valuation are involved. If your circumstances have changed since you took the current mortgage — self-employment, a payment you missed, a lower income, a new dependent — the remortgage is not a formality and needs planning rather than a form.

Raising money on a home. Capital raising is possible for a range of purposes, but the acceptable reasons vary by lender and the paperwork they want varies with the reason. Debt consolidation in particular needs care, because moving unsecured debt onto a mortgage secures it against your home and can cost more over the full term even where the monthly payment falls.

We will also tell you when not to borrow. If the sensible answer is to wait, rebuild a credit file, or reduce a commitment first, that is what we will say.

Buy to let

Landlords and portfolios

Buy to let lending is assessed on the property's rental income as much as on you. The lender applies its own rental calculation, and the figure it uses is often not the rent you believe you can achieve — it is what the valuer supports.

Where these cases go wrong. A tight rental calculation, a property let room by room, a valuer who marks the achievable rent below the market listing, or a portfolio that triggers a full portfolio review with business plans and asset schedules. Landlords are frequently surprised by how much documentation a portfolio review requires, and by how long it takes to assemble.

Personal name or limited company. Both are common and both have consequences that run well beyond the mortgage. The choice affects tax treatment, lender availability, the personal guarantees you will be asked to give, and what happens when you want to sell or refinance later. We will explain how the lending differs; the tax position should be confirmed with an accountant, and we will say so rather than guess.

Existing portfolios. If you hold several properties, the useful work is usually sequencing — which property to refinance, when, and with which lender, so that one deal does not block the next. We look at the portfolio as a whole rather than one case at a time.

Most buy to let mortgages are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Choose your situation

Mortgage services

Not sure which applies to you?

Describe the situation in a sentence or two and we will tell you what kind of case it is, what a lender will want to see, and whether it is worth pursuing now or later.

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