Vida, the specialist mortgage lender, has today announced the introduction of an 80% LTV 5-year fixed fee special to its Buy-to-Let (BTL) range at 4.34%. Available to the whole of market on both a purchase and remortgage basis, the product has a fixed fee of £3,750, with a maximum loan size of £750,000 and a free valuation for all properties up to the value of £1m.

The news comes as part of Vida’s continuing commitment to offering mortgage intermediaries a wide range of flexible BTL products at competitive rates. According to the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) despite a slowdown in the BTL market in 2020, a modest recovery is expected in overall BTL lending in 2021 to £40bn, with BTL remortgaging expected to increase to £28.2bn this year.

Vida’s fixed fee special is priced at 4.34% for its core BTL product range and at 4.74% (also a 5-year fixed rate) for its Housing in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) and Multi Unit Blocks (MUBs) offerings. In addition, Vida has reduced the rate on its standard 80% LTV BTL 5-year fixed rate product to 4.34% and cut its 70% LTV rate by 10bps and its 75% LTV product by 15bps on a 2-year deal.

As well as focusing on specialist property types, Vida is also continuing its support for specialist borrowers. Following intermediary feedback, it has improved its expat offering, reducing initial rates by up to 30bps and lowering the product fee to 1.5% (minimum £795 fee).

Richard Tugwell, Director of Mortgage Distribution at Vida, commented:

“Covid-19 has impacted the financial circumstances of millions of people across the UK, and landlords are no exception. Many have experienced issues with rental yield or are investing in more specialist property types, so they will need the support of expert lenders like Vida who can help them despite their more complex requirements.

“A thriving rental sector is key to the recovery of the UK housing market, and with a strong growth trajectory expected in the remortgage BTL sector this year, landlords have a good opportunity to focus on capital raising to extend their BTL portfolios. We’re confident that our fixed fee special is an ideal solution for landlords with several HMOs or MUBs, looking for greater choice and flexibility for larger loan sizes up to 80% LTV.”