The Intermediary –- May 2026 - Flipbook - Page 87
B RO K E R B U S I N E S S
Case clinic
full-time employment and currently live with
family. Expected rent is £875 per month. They
have no prior property ownership or landlord
experience. Most savings are tied up in the
purchase, leaving minimal contingency funds.
MOLO FINANCE
Molo offers loans to first-time buyer, first-time
landlords on personal or limited company loan
basis. Molo has no minimum income requirements.
Subject to this property being standard BTL
property, not an HMO or MUFB. We have no height
restrictions, we accept balcony and deck access,
including ex-local authority properties.
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE BS
If the applicant will continue to live in the parents’
property, the case would need to be assessed on
full affordability rather than ICR. The gifted deposit
is acceptable, and the society is able to consider an
application from a first-time landlord.
UNITED TRUST BANK
UTB does not currently offer BTL to first-time
landlords where they don’t already own a property.
If this was a joint application, we would consider it
if just one of the applicants owned a property.
WEST ONE LOANS
We may be able to assist in this case if the client
is over the age of 25. They meet the threshold of
minimum £25,000 earnings for a first-time buyer
landlord (the only instance in which we prescribe a
minimum income). While the source of the deposit
is acceptable, we do require proof of funds to cover
six months’ rental voids, the deposit and Stamp
Duty. We will need to apply some extra scrutiny
and comb through the details of the case to ensure
that we’re comfortable lending, but it’s something
we’d encourage a referral on.
C AS E T H R E E
Applicant with overseas
income element
A
UK resident is purchasing a flat worth
£285,000 with a 20% deposit. They
earn £37,000 a year from full-time UK
employment, and £9,000 a year from freelance
work, paid in euros by a company based in Ireland.
The freelance income fluctuates slightly but has
been consistent for three years, with payments
received directly into their UK bank account.
The applicant has been living in the UK for four
years after previously working abroad. They have
a thin credit file due to limited borrowing history,
relying predominantly on debit cards and savings,
but with no adverse credit recorded.
GEN H
The applicant would need to meet our selfemployed criteria and we may be able to approve
the thin file by exception.
But as long as they’re declaring the freelance
income on their tax returns and they can evidence
a track record, we would be comfortable assessing
affordability using both the full time and freelance
income. We would use the figure on their last tax
return for this. As we can lend up to 5.5-times
income for self-employed people, affordability
should fit.
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE BS
The society could only consider this where the
euro income is not required for affordability. The
thin credit file would not be an issue, as lending
decisions are based on the credit search not the
credit score.
STAFFORDSHIRE BS
We can lend, provided the applicant’s age supports
a 31-year term. For affordability we would include
the £37,000, but we would not include the
additional freelance income as it is foreign-sourced
and variable. We have no LTI restrictions, so based
on the UK income alone the case may still fit.
UNITED TRUST BANK
The £37,000 is fine. UTB would not use the
additional £9,000 for income assessment, as all
income must be paid in GBP at source. Three years
of UK residence and no adverse credit means they
may be eligible to proceed on our best plans.
WEST ONE LOANS
This applicant qualifies for our Core product range
(LTI up to 5.0-times income) as we are able to
accept the additional income in our affordability
calculations, while they also meet the requirement
of having at least 24 months’ UK residency with
consistent income – we will require clear evidence
of this. ●
May 2026 | The Intermediary
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