Mortgage products · the head product
Limited company buy-to-let mortgages, arranged by specialists.
A buy-to-let mortgage for a limited company is a loan made to the company, secured on the rental property it owns. We arrange nothing else: whole-of-market access to 100+ lenders, the 125% company interest coverage ratio worked in your favour, and the structure checked before the application goes anywhere.
Advice from
Matt Lenzie · 25+ year career banker (Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group). £300m+ raised for property clients.
25+ year career banker (Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group). £300m+ raised for property clients.
Eligibility
Which companies qualify?
Almost any UK limited company can take a limited company buy-to-let mortgage, but the panel prices a clean special purpose vehicle best: a company registered at Companies House to do nothing except hold rental property. Newly incorporated is fine, most lenders will lend to a company formed the week before the application, because the assessment rests on the directors, their guarantees and the property itself. Trading companies, layered structures with a holding company, and SPVs with non-resident directors all remain placeable; they simply narrow the lender list. Directors typically need to be UK resident, over 21, and willing to give a personal guarantee.
Deposit and leverage
How much deposit does the company need?
Plan on 25%. Most lenders cap company lending at 75% loan to value, with a handful stretching to 80% on a rate premium. The deposit usually enters the company as a director's loan, documented and repayable to you tax-free as the company builds cash, and many lenders also accept an intercompany loan from a trading business or gifted funds with the right paperwork. Whatever the route, provenance matters: lenders want to see where the money started, not just where it landed. Budget separately for the stamp duty surcharge, which applies to every residential purchase a company makes.
Affordability
How do lenders assess what a company can borrow?
Through the interest coverage ratio. The lender stresses the loan at a notional rate, typically 5.5%, and requires the rent to cover that stressed interest 125 times in a hundred, against 145% for a higher-rate personal borrower, because the company pays corporation tax rather than income tax. The practical effect: the same rent supports roughly 14% more borrowing inside the company. Five-year fixed products are often tested at the pay rate instead of the notional rate, stretching the loan further still. Portfolio landlord cases, four or more mortgaged properties, add an aggregate portfolio stress test on top.
Pricing
What rates should a property company expect?
Expect to pay 0.20 to 0.40% more than the equivalent personal-name product: the lender's extra legal work on guarantees and company checks has to be priced somewhere. Within that, pricing steps by loan to value tier, fix length, property type and, critically, fee structure. Company products carry some of the market's heaviest arrangement fees, and a low headline rate with a 5% fee added to the loan frequently costs more over the fix than a plainer rate with a flat fee. We model total cost over the deal term, not the rate card, before recommending anything.
Current pricing context lives on the limited company mortgage rates page.
Lender panel
Who actually lends to companies?
Three groups. The dedicated specialist lenders, Paragon, Kent Reliance, Fleet Mortgages, Foundation Home Loans, Landbay, Precise Mortgages, underwrite company cases as their core business. The challengers, Aldermore, Shawbrook, Interbay, LendInvest, take the complex end: trading companies, large portfolios, heavy refurbishment. And the intermediary-only names, The Mortgage Works, Leeds Building Society, Coventry Building Society, Metro Bank, Yorkshire Building Society, will not quote the public at all; their limited company buy-to-let ranges exist only through brokers. That last group is the structural argument for whole-of-market advice: going direct cuts you off from a meaningful slice of the market before you start.
Company setup
Which SIC code does the company need?
Lenders look for SIC code 68100 (buying and selling own real estate), 68209 (letting of own or leased real estate), or both; some also accept 68320 alongside them. What they are really checking is that the company is a genuine SPV: property-only codes, no trading activity, no unrelated debt. Mixed codes or a trading history push the case into a smaller, dearer corner of the panel, so if the company already exists in another form, tell us early and we will route it accordingly.
Full detail in the SPV SIC codes guide and the SPV setup guide.
The comparison
How does it compare with buying in your own name?
The company pays a slightly higher rate, files accounts, and costs more in accountancy. In return, mortgage interest stays fully deductible where Section 24 restricts it to a 20% credit personally, profits face corporation tax rather than income tax, retained earnings recycle into the next deposit without touching your personal return, and the 125% interest coverage ratio releases more leverage from the same rent. For a higher-rate taxpayer holding long term with debt, the company usually wins; for a basic-rate taxpayer with little borrowing, it often does not. We show you both outcomes on your numbers, not a generic table.
Compare company vs personal on your case · Section 24 explained
The product family
Every route into company-held property
SPV mortgages
Special purpose vehicle finance.
Up to 75% for a clean SPV; new companies are not penalised.
Limited company mortgage rates
How company BTL pricing works.
Pricing tiers step at 65%, 70% and 75% loan-to-value.
Limited company remortgages
Refinance and capital raise inside the company.
Up to 75%, including capital raising to the same cap.
Limited company portfolio mortgages
4+ properties, company or group structure.
Up to 75% per asset, with aggregate portfolio LTV limits around 65 to 75%.
SPV bridging loans
Short-term finance, company borrower.
Typically 70 to 75% of purchase price, more against gross development value on refurbishment.
Limited company HMO mortgages
Houses in multiple occupation, company-held.
Up to 75%, with valuation basis mattering more than the headline LTV.
Limited company holiday let mortgages
Short-term lets through the company.
Typically 60 to 75%, lender-dependent.
Transfer property to a limited company
The incorporation refinance.
Up to 75% on the company purchase, which can fund part of the transaction costs.
First-time landlord limited company mortgages
First rental property, company from day one.
Up to 75%, with some lenders preferring 70% for first-time landlord cases.
Prefer to start from your market? Every one of our 244 town pages carries the local sold prices, rents and a worked company stress test.
Frequently asked questions
Can a limited company get a buy-to-let mortgage?
Yes. Lenders across our 100+ panel advance limited company buy-to-let mortgages every day, usually to a special purpose vehicle set up for the purpose. The company is the borrower and legal owner, the directors give personal guarantees, and the rent is what the lender assesses. A brand-new company with no accounts is fine.
Should I put buy-to-let properties into a limited company?
For new purchases by higher-rate taxpayers, the company route usually wins on the tax arithmetic: full interest deductibility against corporation tax versus Section 24's restricted relief. Moving property you already own means a sale at market value, capital gains tax, the stamp duty surcharge and a remortgage. We model both directions alongside your accountant.
How easy is it for a limited company to get a mortgage?
For a clean SPV with property-only SIC codes, no harder than a personal application, and often quicker through a broker because we package the company documents the way each lender expects: certificate of incorporation, shareholding, deposit provenance, rental schedule. Trading companies, group structures and non-resident directors narrow the panel but rarely close it.
Can the company borrow on interest only?
Yes, interest only is the default on a limited company buy-to-let mortgage, which keeps the monthly cost down and lets the rent surplus accumulate in the company. Repayment and part-and-part options exist. The exit, sale or remortgage, is what the lender wants to understand at application.
How much can the company borrow?
Rental cover decides it: rent stressed at a notional rate, typically 5.5%, against the 125% company interest coverage ratio, then capped at 75% loan to value. Five-year fixes are often assessed at the pay rate instead, which stretches the maximum loan on the same rent.
Enquiry
Get a company buy-to-let quote
Same-business-day callback. Whole-of-market access to 100+ lenders. Initial consultation fee-free.
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