Rate volatility is making complex cases harder to place — but walking away costs brokers more than they realise
The buy-to-let market entered 2026 with cautious optimism, supported by Bank of England base rate cuts, strong lender competition for landlord business, and product availability at its highest level in nearly two decades. That mood shifted as conflict in the Middle East prompted lenders across the market — from high street to specialist — to withdraw their lowest-rate products.
Rates have not become unaffordable, and the market remains competitive, but the assumption that mortgage rates would continue falling steadily through 2026 can no longer be taken for granted.
Against that backdrop, residential advisers who handle buy-to-let alongside their main book are increasingly encountering cases that fall outside their usual lender panel: properties held in limited companies, large houses in multiple occupation, holiday lets requiring refinancing, or portfolios that do not meet mainstream criteria. The instinct in such situations is often to turn the client away.
"Recognising the moment a case has moved beyond a residential remit and into specialist territory is what separates the advisors who keep their clients from those who quietly lose them," said Jorden Abbs (pictured top), chief executive at mortgage broker Commercial Trust.
"There are lots of cases non-specialist brokers may struggle to place. Non-standard construction properties, large HMOs or hybrid properties, holiday lets with restrictions, buy to let surrounded by a high density of commercial premises are just a few examples of more complex cases that need a specialist lender, and may on the face of it look impossible to place if niche cases are not a broker's bread and butter."
The commercial case for engagement is also material. Landlords tend to return to the broker who helped them navigate a difficult case, making the long-term value of complex clients considerably higher.
"Turning down a complex case isn't just losing one deal," Abbs said. "Landlords remember which brokers helped them as they grew, and the one who handles a complex case often gets all their future business. So the long-term value of that client is much higher than a single deal — and saying 'no' usually means losing both the current opportunity and future work."
On the supply side, the specialist lending market has remained unusually competitive. "The architecture of the market means that a case unsuitable for a mainstream lender often has three, four, or more viable specialist routes still open to it," Abbs said. "And the work of identifying which route is most appropriate is precisely what specialist brokerages exist to do."
The volume of cases requiring specialist handling is expected to increase materially over the coming year. UK Finance has projected a 10% rise in external remortgaging activity in 2026, with 1.8 million fixed-rate mortgages due to mature. A meaningful share of those cases will not meet mainstream lender criteria.
Abbs said the better discipline is to identify which cases need a specialist conversation early — before the client's application window narrows — whether through an in-house specialist function or an external referral. He added that the current economic climate and rate volatility driven by overseas conflict have imposed an extra level of urgency behind client applications.
"Brokers who recognise the signs that a specialist case still has a solution and reaches out to a specialist who can help — internally or externally — will be the ones whose books continue to grow while others quietly lose clients they did not realise they could have kept," Abbs said. "That has always been a feature of this market, but in the current environment, it matters more than ever."
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