Mr and Mrs W had recently married and were living in the annex of Mr W’s parents’ large family home. They were looking to purchase their first property in order to take advantage of the lower property prices since the economic downturn and had had an offer accepted on a terraced house for £125,000.
Although they wished to invest in a property, they did not want to move from the annex as they were very comfortable there and so they were looking to take out a buy-to-let mortgage.
As first time buyers with incomes below the majority of buy-to-let lenders’ minimum thresholds, they did not fit the published criteria for any lender. We contacted a specialist lender and put the case to them, explaining Mr and Mrs W’s reasons for wanting to remain living in the annex.
Initially the lender was sceptical that a newly married couple would purchase a property and not live there themselves and therefore had concerns that the clients were looking to take a buy-to-let mortgage for a property they were planning to live in.
However, we took control of the situation and explained our client’s reasons for wanting to remain in the annex and highlighted that they would be eligible to purchase the property on a residential basis based on their combined income. We also pointed out that on a residential basis they would be able to put down a smaller deposit and secure a cheaper product so there was no logical reason for them to apply for a buy-to-let if they were intending to live in the property.
An underwriter considered the case that we put forward and was satisfied that this was a legitimate buy-to-let. They agreed to accept the case despite it being outside of their published lending policy.
The clients were delighted and the property is now let.
