Brokers dealing with the Society have reported that more business is coming from the remortgage sector and particularly emphasised a growth in buy-to-let. This has been attributed to Skipton’s revised policy on residential buy-to-lets.
Before April 2005, small property investors could only acquire four properties before being considered commercial landlords. That figure has now been increased to ten.
Jennifer Holloway, head of media relations at Skipton Building Society, believes the policy is popular due to radical changes in the market. She said: “Being a landlord wasn’t a way of investing before. When the stock market slowed and the property market accelerated, the man on the street invested and became a landlord.
“The market has changed. People have five or six properties but this doesn’t mean they’re professional – it’s still an investment angle.”
Kevin McRobbie, intermediary sales manager at Skipton, agreed but added renewed interest could also be due to simpler reasons. He said: “The purchase market has been a lot quieter so brokers have had to look for business elsewhere.
“But the policy has made a difference. Before April we considered loans from investors with more than four properties through Skipton Commerical. Since the change, they haven’t reported a downturn while Skipton Residential has seen an increase.”
Paul Howard, associate director of Portman Group Intermediary Sales, said: “We’ve been in the portfolio landlord market for some time and have done a huge number of portfolios of 50 or more. Increasingly people need lenders to view them not as commercial but as a quasi-residential loan.”
