New bank tries to woo landlords with four or more properties

A new bank - Recognise - has entered the buy to let market in a bid to win landlords and investors.

Its first product for the sector - called Professional Buy To Let - has a headline rate of 3.49 per cent with fixed and variable rate options.

Borrowers can choose a five-year fixed-rate deal or a variable deal linked to the Bank of England Base Rate. With a maximum Loan To Value of 75 per cent, loans are available from £100,000 up to £5m on either new acquisitions or for refinancing existing portfolios of four properties or more.

Repayment and interest-only payment options are available for terms of up to 10 years. 

The loans can be used for single-let residential houses or blocks of flats let on an AST basis, and are open to UK-based individuals, partnerships, Limited Companies and LLPs that meet Recognise Bank’s lending and affordability criteria.

By focusing on borrowers who already have a significant property portfolio, and by offering a range of flexible options, Recognise Bank says it aims to serve reputable and professional landlords, supporting the availability of quality rental properties in the UK.

The bank’s corporate development head - Angela Norman - says: “We want to do more than just offer borrowers a buy-to-let loan – we want to show them we are interested in their business and to support their success.

“Because we take a personal relationship approach to all our lending, it means advisers and their clients can have a proper conversation about their portfolios, knowing we understand their needs and will be able to offer the right funding solution.”

The proposition has already been trialled with a small number of brokers, with over £20m in deals either completed or in progress. 

Norman continues: “We are very excited about the launch of our Professional Buy To Let Loan and have been extremely pleased at the response from the handful of advisers and customers we have worked with during the trial period. We thought it was important to gather feedback about the proposition to ensure it was right before launching it to the whole market.”

Recognise Bank was created to serve SMEs that are being ignored by the big banks, and has a network of regionally-based relationship managers who understand the needs of local businesses and their communities.

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