The remortgage is now quite a popular term among many UK house owners and rightfully so. With interest rate levels still at the bottom of the barrel, property owners are able to find a suitable deal with a lender and save potentially hundreds of pounds per month off the cost of the mortgage. This has been a perfect storm for months. Buy to let landlords are now facing a different set of rules. Many deals have remained painfully out of reach due to fresh new borrowing regulations and tax changes, according to lenders and brokers close to the action.

Big lenders are offering exceptional deals on fixed rate deals for buy to let borrowers, but these deals are still unavailable to many landlords due to borrowing standards set just beyond the bar.

Paul Wootton of TMW, commented on the new rules governing borrowing for the group, saying: “This is designed to support landlords looking to plan and balance their costs and maintain a positive cash flow.”

Buy to let was tagged with the unique distinction of being a threat to the stability of the economy a few months ago, and the Bank of England was forced to make changes which applied to the entire lot of them. One of the changes involved interest cost. Since the first month of the year, landlord income has to cover a minimum of 125% of mortgage interest costs and pass a hypothetical stress test. As a cushion, many lenders have already bumped the 125% to 145% to avoid an issue.

Hugh Wade-Jones of Enness Private Clients commented on the impact to buy to let caused by interest rates increasing, saying: “Variable rates will be forgiving at the moment.”

Wade-Jones added: “But they will be the first market to feel the pitch of interest rates when they go up. People need to be more realistic about their borrowing — for too long, buy-to-let has been unregulated.”