The Intermediary –- May 2026 - Flipbook - Page 46
BUY-TO-LET
Opinion
Do ‘standard’ deals
still exist?
T
he ‘standard deal’
remains a phrase
you hear regularly in
the buy-to-let (BTL)
market. Typically, it
refers to a case that
looks straightforward on paper – a
single property, an experienced
landlord, a clean credit profile and no
obvious complications. In theory, the
kind of application that should be easy
to place and simple to process.
But in today’s market, there is
a great deal more complexity to
consider, which can mean that
some standard cases prove to be
more nuanced than they seem at
first glance.
A market moved on
Over the past decade, the BTL market
has been reshaped by tax reform,
regulatory change, shiing landlord
behaviour and economic pressures.
Limited company borrowing has
moved firmly into the mainstream.
Higher interest rates have forced
landlords to think more carefully
about leverage, portfolio performance
and where capital is best deployed.
At the same time, policy and
regulatory developments – from
rental reform through to Energy
Performance Certificate (EPC) related
considerations – have added further
layers of uncertainty and planning.
The result is that, while there are
still vast numbers of standard cases,
there are also plenty of enquiries
and applications that require a more
considered approach than they did
previously, particularly from an
underwriting perspective.
A single-property application,
for example, may sit within a
much broader portfolio strategy.
A borrower’s ownership structure
may reflect tax planning, succession
planning or future acquisition plans
rather than a desire for simplicity.
The exit route may already be
influencing the shape of the deal on
44
The Intermediary | May 2026
day one. None of that is immediately
obvious from the headline facts, but
all of it maers.
No longer an exception
For brokers, knowing which lenders
are best placed to handle cases that are
more complex is essential. Aer all,
some lenders are experts in handling
the standard cases – speed and a nononsense approach will shine through
in such instances. Others pride
themselves on having the people,
processes and approach to tackle more
niche challenges.
Chetwood Bank’s specialist lender
proposition is designed to address both
needs for brokers; ModaMortgages
focuses more on standard cases, and
CHL Mortgages for Intermediaries
gravitates towards the complex.
At CHL Mortgages, over the
past two years we have noticed the
trend of what might appear to be a
straightforward case still involving
layered affordability considerations,
exposure across multiple properties,
background portfolio risk or a limited
company structure that requires
a more specialist lens. This point
is accentuated in the more volatile
economic and geopolitical climate.
This makes early case assessment
more important than ever. The
strongest outcomes now tend to come
from identifying nuance at the outset,
not halfway through the process. That
means understanding not just the
property and the borrower, but the
wider context around the transaction.
Our BDMs always ask brokers why
the deal is being done, how it fits into
the client’s broader objectives and
what could affect it later, as it impacts
how we structure cases.
Packaging has had to evolve
accordingly. It is no longer enough
to present a case based purely on the
basics and assume the rest will take
care of itself. The more effectively a
broker can anticipate the questions a
lender is likely to ask, the smoother
ROGER MORRIS
is group distribution director
at Chetwood Bank for CHL
Mortgages for Intermediaries
and ModaMortgages
the process tends to be and the beer
the chance of securing the right
outcome first time.
Being adaptable is key
In BTL, complex cases are no longer
outliers. No doubt brokers are seeing
this trend first-hand. And for both
brokers and lenders, the job is not
simply to match an application to a
checklist of criteria, but to understand
what is really driving the case and how
it should be structured.
At CHL Mortgages, that means we
must really call upon our experience
to look beyond the headline facts,
and work with brokers to identify the
important nuances early on. Because
the difference between a case that
moves smoothly and one that stalls
oen comes down to how well that
complexity is understood at the outset.
From our perspective, many of these
cases are still ‘standard’. Not because
they are simple in the traditional
sense, but because this kind of
complexity is now more common in
the modern BTL market. It is familiar
territory, provided you have the
expertise to navigate it.
So, do ‘standard’ deals still exist in
2026? Yes, absolutely they do. But
specialist lenders still have to be ready
to adapt and deliver on the ‘specialist’
part of their name; for some, this will
mean answering the call from brokers
to take on cases that have those
additional layers of complexity, which
has become more common due to the
direction of travel in the BTL space
of late. ●
