Buy-to-let battle hots up as LendInvest cuts rates

LENDINVEST is the latest lender to cut rates on its buy-to-let (BTL) products, as it looks to boost its loan volumes in the highly competitive sector.

The online property lender, which also offers bridging and development loans, said on Tuesday that its two-year fixed rates on BTL mortgages now start from 2.89 per cent – down from 2.99 per cent. Its five-year fixed rates now start from 3.19 per cent – down from 3.6 per cent and 3.49 per cent.

It has also lowered its rates for its 75 per cent loan-to-value (LTV) products as it has launched new BTL products for 65 and 70 per cent LTV facilities.

Read more: Property investors still backing buy-to-let despite putting expansion plans on hold

The London-based firm has increased its maximum loan size for large houses in multiple occupation to £1m.

And finally, BTL mortgage borrowers will receive a £750 cashback contribution towards legal fees when they take out a five-year fixed loan for standard property types on products up to 75 per cent LTV.

Read more: Buy-to-let returns beat gold, cash and fine art over a decade

“Our recent BTL securitisation and the attraction of additional institutional funding partners has given us a really strong and well-diversified capital base,” said Ian Boden, sales director at LendInvest.

“Coupling this with the continued growth of our operations team and the ever-stronger tech platform from which we do our BTL business, we are well placed to further increase our BTL loan volumes.”

The move follows BTL specialist Landbay’s announcement on Monday that it is cutting rates on nine of its products to remain competitive in the market. It cut the rate of its most popular product – its standard five-year fix – so that it now starts at 3.35 per cent.