Harpenden upgrades holiday lets offering
19 July 2021
July 19th, 2021. Harpenden Building Society has launched revamped versions of its holiday let and 2nd home mortgages with the following, improved rates and higher LTVs:
- 2.99% - 2 year discount - ERC
- 3.49% - 2 year discount – No ERC
- Holiday Let – 75% REP / 70% IO + P&P.
- 2nd Home – 80% REP/ 75% IO + P&P.
Additional product features
Wider beneficial characteristics also help differentiate Harpenden’s product from other Holiday Let options.
Added benefits include the ability to purchase a property that would have previously been labelled as a Consumer Buy to Let, as a Holiday Let qualifying for the more attractive criteria that comes with this lending category.
There are no restrictions on location for the property purchase giving wider buying options.
Manual underwriting provides a more in-depth review of the customer’s financial position and a greater opportunity for complex applications to be accepted. The customer’s earned income is considered from a range of sources in addition to salary, including their savings, investments and a portion of the expected rental income when a lending decision is made.
Harpenden also takes a holistic view of the applicant’s financial circumstances to ensure they have surplus income and funds available to afford the mortgage and the Holiday Let running costs for up to 3 months – safeguarding the customer’s ability to repay the loan if the property is unexpectedly without visitors for short periods.
Craig Middleton, Harpenden’s Mortgage Sales Manager commented: “We’re delighted to launch new, improved products in this space. The holiday let and related markets are seeing unprecedented growth as the UK ‘staycation’ remains the holiday of choice for many Brits. High returns can be secured by those marketing their short-term rental properties currently.
The popularity of renting holiday lets; the associated tax breaks linked to this type of property plus wider benefits like providing holiday accommodation for friends and family, are currently delivering strong returns for savvy investors and explains the strong uptake of holiday let mortgages right now.”
Craig adds: “As with our full mortgage range, the holiday lets and 2nd home products are manually underwritten, allowing us to review applications in greater detail, taking a deeper dive into income with a view to being able to say ‘yes’, when some high street lenders may reject a complex mortgage application. We look forward to supporting our broker partners as they use our improved products to secure new business with their customers.”
Harpenden’s mortgages for holiday lets are available for purchase, re-mortgage or release of equity to include short term holiday letting. A minimum income of £30k is required.
Harpenden’s full product range can be viewed here.
