Buy to let hub
Buy-to-let mortgages
Explore the mortgage routes for your rental property, company or portfolio.
Choose your route
Where does your case sit?
Different landlords, different lender rules. Start with the route that best matches your position.
First-time landlord
Buying your first rental, often while still owning or renting your own home.
Find out more →Limited company
Borrowing through an SPV, and how lenders assess the company and its directors.
Find out more →Portfolio landlord
Four or more mortgaged properties, where lenders stress the whole portfolio.
Find out more →Specialist property
HMOs, holiday lets and other property types with their own lender criteria.
Find out more →Your circumstances come first
A conversation. A clearer direction.
Your plans in focus
See the whole property picture.
A buy-to-let is assessed on the property as well as on you. The rent has to cover the mortgage by a margin the lender sets, and that margin changes with your tax position, the property type and whether you borrow personally or through a company. Those rules decide which lenders are realistic long before the rate does.
What lenders look at
What decides whether a buy-to-let works.
Whether a limited company or personal ownership suits you is a tax question as well as a lending one, so your accountant should be part of that conversation.
Payam Azadi, Director — specialist finance expert
Start with your circumstances.
Tell us about your plans and the questions you would like to work through.
Specialist landlord help
Cases with their own rules.
Some cases are straightforward to every lender. These are not, and each has its own page because the criteria genuinely differ.
Useful tools
Run the numbers first.
Do the numbers first, then use specialist advice where assumptions matter.
Why Niche Advice
Landlord cases, looked at as a whole.
A buy-to-let is assessed on the property, the borrower and the rest of the portfolio together. We look at the case as a whole, explain the trade-offs between routes, and tell you early if a route is unlikely to work.
Personal and company borrowing · Specialist experience · Clear next steps
Payam Azadi, Co-founder & Director · Make an enquiry
Watch with Payam Azadi
Buy to let on video
Your first buy to let, limited company or personal name, income rules and how rental calculations work.
This page is information, not advice. It is here to help you understand the landscape, not to recommend a particular product or course of action. Buy-to-let is an investment decision with tax, legal and commercial consequences, so before you commit, speak to a qualified adviser who can look at your circumstances properly. Niche Advice Limited is a mortgage and credit broker, not a lender, and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Most buy-to-let mortgages are not regulated by the FCA. Buy-to-let lending is usually treated as a business or investment activity, so it generally falls outside the consumer protections that apply to residential mortgages. (A small number of buy-to-let mortgages — for example, where you let to a close family member — can be “consumer buy-to-let” and are regulated. An adviser can tell you which category you fall into.) Because most buy-to-let is unregulated, the residential repossession warning does not apply in the same way — but your property and your investment are still at risk if rent does not cover the borrowing.
Frequently asked questions
Is buy-to-let regulated by the FCA?
Most buy-to-let mortgages are not — they are usually treated as business or investment lending, which sits outside the regulation that covers residential mortgages. A minority, such as letting to a close family member, can be “consumer buy-to-let” and are regulated. An adviser can confirm which applies to you.
How big a deposit do I need for a buy-to-let?
Buy-to-let typically requires a larger deposit than a residential purchase, with the maximum loan set as a loan-to-value percentage. The exact figure depends on the lender, the property and how the rent stacks up against the stress test. Speak to an adviser for what is realistic in your case.
Can I get a buy-to-let mortgage as a first-time landlord?
Often, yes. Some lenders welcome first-time landlords, though a number prefer applicants who already own their own home or have a track record. A straightforward first property usually gives you the widest choice.
Should I buy in my own name or through a limited company?
It depends on your tax position and plans, and there is no single right answer. This is an area to take both mortgage advice and independent tax advice — Niche Advice Limited does not provide tax advice but can work alongside your accountant or professional tax advisor.
What is top-slicing?
It is where a lender uses your surplus personal income to support a buy-to-let loan when the rent alone does not quite meet its stress test. Not all lenders offer it, and those that do apply their own rules.
Ready to talk through your buy-to-let?
Speak directly with a specialist adviser about your circumstances and next step. Your enquiry will not affect your credit file.