Editorial
Limited company buy-to-let guides.
Plain-English, data-anchored guides to SPV and limited company buy-to-let finance, written from the lender side. Every guide is written by Matt Lenzie (Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group alumnus, 25+ year career banker (bank of scotland, lloyds banking group). £300m+ raised for property clients.). No marketing fluff, what the lender actually wants from a company case and why.
Guide · 11 min read
Setting up an SPV for buy-to-let: the step-by-step guide
Incorporating the company is the easy part. The decisions you make before you file, SIC codes, shareholding, deposit route, decide which lenders will touch the case later.
Published 10 June 2026 · Read →
Guide · 9 min read
SPV SIC codes: 68100, 68209 and 68320 explained for property companies
Four digits on a Companies House filing decide whether a lender treats your company as a clean SPV or an unlendable trading business. The codes, decoded.
Published 10 June 2026 · Read →
Guide · 10 min read
Section 24 explained: the mortgage interest restriction and the company answer
Section 24 turned profitable personal-name portfolios into loss-makers for higher-rate taxpayers. The mechanism, the worked numbers, and why company landlords are outside it.
Published 10 June 2026 · Read →
Guide · 6 min read
Best limited company buy-to-let mortgages: how to judge the market
The cheapest headline rate is rarely the best deal once the arrangement fee and the stress test are priced in. How we rank SPV products across the whole market.
Published 10 June 2026 · Read →
Guide · 10 min read
Buy-to-let through a limited company: how it works and who it suits
Company ownership is now the default for new higher-rate landlord purchases, but it is not free. The full comparison, both directions, with the numbers that decide it.
Published 10 June 2026 · Read →
Guide · 12 min read
Transferring property to a limited company without stamp duty: the honest position
Yes, no-SDLT incorporation routes exist. No, most landlords do not qualify for them. The genuine partnership route, the six-dwelling rule, and the schemes HMRC is unwinding.
Published 10 June 2026 · Read →
Guide · 10 min read
Stamp duty for limited company buy-to-let: rates, surcharges and reliefs
Every residential purchase by a company carries the surcharge, with no first-property exemption. The bands, the worked examples, and the reliefs that genuinely apply.
Published 10 June 2026 · Read →
Guide · 10 min read
Personal guarantees on limited company mortgages: what directors actually sign
The limited company wrapper does not shield you from the mortgage. What the guarantee document actually says, what can be negotiated, and what enforcement looks like.
Published 10 June 2026 · Read →
Guide · 9 min read
Deposit for a limited company buy-to-let: how much, and where it can come from
The amount is the easy half of the question. The route the money takes into the company, and how it is documented, is what underwriters actually scrutinise.
Published 10 June 2026 · Read →
Guide · 11 min read
Limited company buy-to-let tax: the complete picture
The company structure wins on interest relief and loses on extraction. The complete tax map, purchase to sale, so you can model the whole journey rather than one year.
Published 10 June 2026 · Read →
Guide · 9 min read
ICR stress tests for limited companies: the 125% advantage explained
The single biggest structural advantage of company borrowing is a number: 125 versus 145. What the interest cover ratio is, how it is stressed, and how to work it.
Published 10 June 2026 · Read →
Guide · 10 min read
Why limited company mortgage applications get declined: the reasons we see most
A company case rarely fails for one reason, it fails for a stack of small ones that a broker should have caught before submission. The ranked list from our desk.
Published 10 June 2026 · Read →
Guide · 13 min read
Mortgage for a limited company director: both routes explained
Directors get told they are hard to mortgage. They are not, the income just needs reading properly. How lenders assess director income, and when the company should borrow instead.
Published 10 June 2026 · Read →
Guide · 9 min read
Director's loan deposits: funding your SPV's buy-to-let purchase
Most SPV deposits arrive as a director's loan, and most are documented badly. The loan agreement, the provenance trail, and the tax-free repayment, explained properly.
Published 10 June 2026 · Read →
Guide · 9 min read
Corporation tax on rental income: what your property company actually pays
The 19 to 25% band is wider than most landlords realise, and associated-company rules shrink the thresholds. How the rate is actually set on your rental profit.
Published 10 June 2026 · Read →
Guide · 9 min read
SPV vs trading company: which structure gets the mortgage?
A trading company can hold buy-to-let, but the lender panel shrinks and the pricing widens. Why underwriters want the clean SPV, and how to structure around it.
Published 10 June 2026 · Read →
Guide · 10 min read
Incorporation relief for property: Section 162 and the genuine business test
Incorporation relief can defer the entire capital gain, if your portfolio is genuinely a business rather than an investment. The Ramsay test, and the limits of the relief.
Published 10 June 2026 · Read →
Guide · 8 min read
Limited company interest-only mortgages: how SPV landlords use them
Most SPV mortgages are interest-only by design, not by accident. The cash-flow logic, the lender's view of the exit, and the cases where capital repayment wins.
Published 10 June 2026 · Read →
More guides coming
We publish new guides monthly across SPV structuring, SIC codes and Companies House practice, Section 24 and corporation tax planning, deposits and director's loans, ICR stress testing, personal guarantees, portfolio incorporation, and limited company HMO and holiday-let finance. Every guide is written by Matt Lenzie from the broker desk, drawn from company cases packaged this month, not generic explainer content.
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