When you’re purchasing a new buy to let property, the last thing you want is unnecessary delays in the mortgage application. This article shares our top tips for keeping your application on track.
Securing a mortgage for your property purchase is arguably the most crucial part of the property investment process, and often the lengthiest. Delays in the process can be irritating for anyone, but in some cases can go so far as to make you lose the property. With mortgage products being pulled much more regularly to keep up with inflation and Bank of England Base Rate rises, this challenge has only elevated in recent months. In a normal market, however, these hold-ups are entirely avoidable, so here’s a quick guide to help you make sure you’re fully prepared and ready to make your next buy to let mortgage application plain-sailing.
Proof of Income
Failing to provide sufficient proof of income is a common cause of buy to let mortgage application delays. As different lenders have different requirements, what you provided for your last application might not be what your new lender needs, so it’s essential to read the mortgage application form carefully and check with your broker for exactly what you need to send. Generally, lenders will ask for:
- PAYE Employees: Last three months’ payslips and a P60
- Self Employed/Company Directors: Last two years’ tax calculations and corresponding tax year overviews. If you have over a 25% shareholding in the business, you may also need to provide business accounts.
- Retired: Last three months’ pension payslips or annual statement, depending on how your pension provider supplies these details.
Additional Proof of Income: Occasionally, lenders will request other supporting documents for proof of income, including:
- Notice of state benefits you have been awarded, such as working tax credits or disability living allowance
- Court awarded maintenance payments
If you’re a company director, you may also need to provide two years of accounts for your limited company. While it’s not always essential, it is helpful if a professional accountant has prepared them. Some lenders will insist they are from a professional accountant, so speak to your broker about how your accounts need to be presented.
Providing Supporting Documentation When Requested
The second frequent cause of delays is not promptly providing supporting documentation, such as proof of income and identification. The sooner your broker has all the necessary documents, the quicker they can submit your buy to let mortgage application. Ideally, send all your documentation in one go, rather than bit by bit. This is important because lenders will not complete the underwriting until the last document is received - and some won’t even start till then!
You should also keep in mind that lenders may require numerous additional pieces of supporting evidence even after your broker has submitted the fully packaged application. Getting these over as promptly as possible will help keep your mortgage application moving.
Luckily, you can now email most documents over, which is much faster than posting everything; however, your broker will let you know if the lender needs to see the original of any of the documentation.
Incomplete Application Fact Finds
You’d be surprised at how often borrowers return fact finds to us with information missing! We know these forms can be quite long; however, all the information requested is needed for your broker to submit your mortgage application, so you must complete the form in full. We’d much prefer you asked us about sections you’re unsure of so that we can help you, rather than just leaving them blank. It’s also essential that you sign the dotted line at the end.
We recommend setting aside 30-60 minutes to complete this document in full, as this will be quicker in the long run than if we have to send it back to you to finish missing information.
Next Steps
All our clients are assigned a dedicated broker and client relationship manager, meaning that you have dedicated points of contact right through to the completion of your case.
Should you have any questions at any point during the process, you can contact your team, who will be more than happy to help. Alternatively, if you have yet to get in touch with us, submit an enquiry or call us on 0345 345 6788 today, and one of our expert brokers will contact you to offer any support you need.
