How to apply for a buy to let mortgage

The following criteria applies for NatWest buy to let mortgage applications:

• You're a UK resident aged 18 or over.
• You have/will have less than four Buy to Let or consent to let properties with a mortgage. This includes the property that you are purchasing or remortgaging and excludes any residential mortgages.
• Your expected rental income to be at least 125% of your monthly interest payments.
• You have at least 25% of the purchase price of the property as a deposit.
  
• It's a UK property worth at least £50,000 and has the minimum EPC rating required depending on where it is located. See further details.
• You're borrowing at least £25,000 over a minimum of 3 years and a maximum of 35 years.
• Your total aggregated borrowing with NatWest group brands will be less than £3.5 million.

We will not consider multiple tenancies, Homes of Multiple Occupancy (HMO), bedsits, ‘Related Person’ tenancies, properties that fall under a selective licensing scheme or properties that will be used as a holiday home or holiday let.

You cannot apply for a buy to let mortgage with us if you do not meet the above criteria.

If you already have a mortgage on the property, look at the latest mortgage statement you received from your current mortgage provider to see how much is left to pay.

If your property isn't already on Standard Variable Rate (SVR) then you might have an Early Repayment Charge (ERC) if you remortgage. Check your mortgage paperwork or contact your current mortgage provider to find out whether ERC's are applicable to you.

Enter a few details into our mortgage rate finder and we’ll show you all the NatWest mortgages that could be right for you, based on what you've told us.

Thinking of borrowing more? No problem, it's easy to vary the amounts in the calculator.

Research is important when buying a Buy to Let property. The costs, rental income and rental tenancy demand will vary by area, so understanding the local market will help you make a more informed decision if you do buy a property to rent out.

Understand what your rental income could be. You should consider all of the costs of renting out a property, including mortgage payments, bills, maintenance, insurance and agent fees (if applicable), as well as covering costs for periods of time when the property may be vacant.

Find out how to calculate the rental yield.

You may also want to consider whether a property is freehold or leasehold as this could affect whether the property can be rented out or not.

Explore all the options out there

When you know what you want, register with estate agents and start looking on websites like Zoopla. You cand sign up for email alerts so you’ll know as soon as a new property that meets your criteria is listed online.

When you've found somewhere that you're interest in, contact the estate agent and book a viewing.

Whether you are purchasing or remortgaging, you’ll need to get an Agreement in Principle to see if we think we may be able to lend you the amount you require.

This isn't a firm decision, but it’s the most accurate result we can give you without performing a full credit check.

Our agreement in Principle:

• Provides a personalised indication of how much we could lend you.
• Will not impact your credit score as we use a soft credit check.
• Takes less than 10 minutes and there is no commitment.

Once you've got your Agreement in Principle, you can see the rates available to you and find out what your monthly payments could be.

Log in and retrieve your Agreement in Principle if you saved it. Otherwise you'll need to a new one before you can apply for your mortgage.

You'll then see the mortgage rates available to you. Select the mortgage that you want, to see a personalised mortgage illustration and start the application form.

Learn about our mortgage types

Once you've completed the mortgage application, we'll hold your rate for 14 days whilst you upload your supporting documents such as bank statements and proof of identity. We'll confirm the documents you need to provide once you've completed the application form.

Once you've uploaded your supporting documents and completed all the tasks on your mortgage dashboard, your mortgage application will be submitted.

Remember, you only have 14 days to upload your documents on the mortgage dashboard.

If you are applying for a joint mortgage, then the 2nd applicant will recieve an email with details on the documents that they will also need to upload onto their own mortgage dashboard.

We'll then complete the normal affordability and credit checks before finalising your mortgage offer. 

When you've received your formal mortgage offer, your solicitor and estate agent will guide the final steps of the process for buying the property.

Once your solicitor has done all of their checks, they'll agree the date for exchanging contracts and completing the purchase with the seller's solicitor. 

Our landlord's checklist provides helpful information around some of the considerations when becoming a landlord.