Are you eligible?

Applicants:

• Up to 2 individuals per application
• We accept first time landlords
• We accept first time buyers, if accompanied by an existing property owner.

Residency:

• You must be a UK resident with at least 3 years UK address history.

Age:

• Minimum age: 21
• Maximum age: There’s no maximum age for experienced landlords with a minimum deposit of 35%. Otherwise maximum age at application is 70.

Income:

• There’s no minimum income. The maximum amount you can borrow will be linked to how much the property is let for.
• We accept self-employed applicants.
• You can’t be bankrupt, or have been in the last 4 years, or have had a property repossessed in the last 6 years.

Portfolio landlord applicants:

• We accept applications from portfolio landlords.

Check our glossary for our full definitions.

These criteria are only applicable if you’re applying under a limited company:

• Companies must have been set up solely for the buying, letting and selling of property.
• Acceptable SIC codes are: 68100, 68201, 68209, 68320.
• The company must be registered in England and Wales or Scotland.

Company structure:

• Limited Companies only. Partnerships or LLPs aren’t accepted.
• Maximum of 2 directors/shareholders.
• All shareholders must be directors and own 100% shareholding.

Type of application:

• First time landlords accepted
• Portfolio landlords accepted
• Let to buy not accepted
• Regulated buy to lets not accepted.

Check our glossary for our full definitions.

Deposit:

• Minimum deposit: 20% of the purchase price, or 25% if the property has a Energy Performance Certificate rating of D or E.

Term:

• Minimum term: 5 years
• Maximum term: 35 years.

Purpose of the loan:

• Purchase
• Remortgage, only after the property has been owned and let for a minimum of 6 months
• Borrowing more – see borrow more page for more information.

Minimum loan:

• £25,001 or £2,500 when borrowing more.

Maximum loan:

The property must be used for residential letting purposes only and be in a lettable condition. There’s no limit to the number of properties you can have in your portfolio, up to £5 million lending.

Location:

• England, Wales and mainland Scotland
• The property can’t be next to one you already own.

Tenancy agreements:

• Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreements for a period of up to 3 years
• Private Residential Tenancies for properties in Scotland
• Occupation Contract for properties in Wales.

Tenants:

• You can’t live in the property yourself
• We don’t accept applications where your family members will be living in the property. 

New Build:

• We accept new build applications
• New build houses: Minimum deposit of 25%
• New build flats: Minimum deposit of 35%.

Lease terms:

• Minimum lease terms of 70 years or more, or 125 years for new build flats and 250 years for new build houses.

Studio flats:

• The floor area must be 30 square metres or more and contain a separate bathroom.