As more and more people are forced to rent rather than buy, Barclays Bank has decided to extend the range of buy-to-let products it offers to property investors.
The Woolwich, the mortgage arm of the high street bank, is now offering a new range of loans for buy to let landlords who can put down a minimum 25% deposit.
Among the new offerings is a five-year fixed rate mortgage at 4.99% and a two-year fix at 4.39%. Landlords who prefer a longer-term deal can get a lifetime tracker mortgage at 3.49% above the Bank of England base rate. All mortgages attract a £1,999 application fee.
Barclays’ head of mortgages, Andy Gray, explained that there has been increased demand recently from buy to let investors as first time buyers struggle to get a contractor mortgage. Furthermore, existing investors are looking to remortgage and the bank’s competitive five-year fix will give them stability over the longer-term.
The new range is available to landlords wanting to borrow between £50,000 and £1 million.
Last month, website Easyroommate.co.uk conducted a survey and discovered that rents for flat shares are increasing at a rate of nearly 5% a year. The average rent for a room now stands at £365 per month.
The problems for first time buyers could be set to get worse after official figures showed that the number of new builds is now at its lowest level since records began.
Last year, just under 120,000 new homes were built – only 50% of the level needed to keep up with demand. The UK needs another 1 million homes and that figure is rising by around 10% per year as life expectancy increases and more people opt to live alone.
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