BTL Mortgages for First-time Landlords

You’ll typically need a deposit, a suitable property, and a buy to let mortgage that meets lender criteria, including rental income requirements.

Some lenders allow it, although the criteria is often stricter and may require a higher deposit or income.

No—lenders will estimate rental income based on the property and use this to assess affordability.

It can be slightly more restrictive, but many lenders offer products specifically suited to first-time landlords.

Buy to let mortgage lenders typically prefer borrowers to put down a 25% deposit. If you have a minimum deposit you can get BTL mortgages with a 15% deposit; however, there are fewer mortgage products available, and the interest rates are higher. Overall, rates are more competitive when you can put down a deposit of 25% or more. 

Rates vary based on deposit, lender criteria, and market conditions, but generally sit above residential mortgage rates.

Look at rates, fees, rental requirements, and flexibility—not just headline interest rates. It's important to investigate what works best and that doesn't always mean the lowest interest rate.

While every mortgage lender will have their own criteria for determining how much you can borrow, they all look at the following key factors when calculating a buy to let mortgage: 

Loan to Value (LTV) 

This is how much you are borrowing expressed as a percentage of the property value. Generally speaking, a lower LTV gives you access to more competitive mortgage interest rates and a higher LTV reduces the number of lenders available to you and usually increases the rates. 

The majority of buy to let lenders cap their maximum loan amount to 75%. This means that even if you meet affordability criteria to borrow more, the most amount of funding you could access will still be up to 75% of the property value. 

Rental Income 

Buy to let properties should be self-funding and your mortgage product should be affordable for your current circumstances. As such, the rental income should cover the mortgage interest repayments plus any additional costs associated with running the property. 

When lenders are stress-testing your affordability, they will typically use a ICR of 145% at payrate (the mortgage rate) for individual borrowers and 125% for Limited Companies.

We recommend you have a minimum 25% deposit for buy to let investment. However, anything between 25-40% will get you access to the most competitive rates.  

Technically, the minimum deposit for buy to let property is 15%. You’ll find mortgage interest rates at 85% loan to value (LTV) quite expensive.  

You need more deposit for buy to let mortgages because lenders view them as a higher risk than mortgages on your home.  

Some lenders require a minimum income, while others focus primarily on rental affordability.

Typically between 4–8 weeks, depending on the lender, property, and application complexity.