The Intermediary – April 2025 - Flipbook - Page 70
B RO K E R B U S I N E S S
Case clinic
and the county is free from sanctions.
If the client already has a buy-to-let property in
the UK, we can lend up to 75%.
If they only have buy-to-let properties in their
country of residence, we could still proceed but
with a 45% deposit.
UNITED TRUST BANK
Currently UTB does not offer buy-to-let mortgages
for expat applicants. However, we are looking at
this market so watch this space!
HARPENDEN BS
We can consider foreign currency income from a
range of sources, even in cases where we need to
verify this via overseas documents.
The issues we would have here are that we
cannot lend to expats and our minimum deposit
requirement is 25% on buy-to-let applications.
However, when it comes to keeping initial costs
down, our low £995 arrangement fees can be
added to the loan.
SUFFOLK BS
We’d be very happy to lend on this case. The
expat has a healthy salary, well over our minimum
income threshold of £25,000.
With foreign currency applications, we haircut
by 20% to cover any potential future currency
fluctuations.
As the expat is looking to purchase a buy-to-let
property, we would need to ensure that the rental
income is sufficient to satisfy the minimum ICR.
If there was a shortfall, because the rent couldn’t
be set at a level to meet the ICR, then top-slicing
could be an option for the customer, too.
The fees can be added to the mortgage, to meet
the buyer’s requirements to have minimal upfront
costs (above 80% LTV).
We love lending in this space and will consider
first-time landlords, and first-time buyers.
C AS E T H R E E
Recently self-employed
applicant with limited
trading history
client earning £60,000 in their previous
salaried role recently transitioned to selfemployment as a freelance consultant.
They have been trading for just over a year, and
are looking to purchase a £300,000 residential
A
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The Intermediary | April 2025
property with a 15% deposit. Despite having a
strong previous income history and a growing
client base, the mortgage application has proven
difficult due to a short trading history.
Most lenders he has approached require at least
two years of self-employed accounts or tax returns
to assess affordability, making it challenging for
the client to secure approval.
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE BS
The society would require two years of selfemployed income evidence to be able to consider
with just the applicant.
However, an option for Joint Borrower Sole
Proprietor (JBSP) could work if the applicant has
parents that are able to support the mortgage
payments. The LTV would be 90%.
TOGETHER
Together would be happy to accept the income
from the applicant as they have been trading for a
minimum of 12 months, unlike some other lenders
that require two years of trading and may choose
to average this amount.
Together could look to utilise our accountant
projection form to use a higher figure if this income
was to increase in the coming year.
The applicant’s accountant could project the
income based on information provided by the
applicant, meaning potentially a higher lending
amount against affordability.
While we could not quite get to the 85% LTV
needed, we could look to utilise our criteria
around gifted deposits from immediate family
members and up to four applicants to help support
additional affordability.
UNITED TRUST BANK
In most cases, UTB would also require at least
two years of accounts, especially for a sole
trader applicant.
However, we would consider, on referral, a
limited company director with one year’s finalised
accounts and strong projections.
This would need to be evidenced by way of a
completed accountant’s certificate, where there
has been sufficient time lapsed in the current
accounting year for us to get comfortable, and this
was supported by management accounts supplied
by the accountant.
HARPENDEN BS
We are happy to utilise self-employment income
with just one year’s trading history, and can
be flexible with the evidence we receive for
this including tax calculations, accounts or
