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Just got off the phone to the last set of advisors on my list. By way of summary here’s what I found out so far:

Personal Income:

The majority of buy-to-let lenders now require proveable income from the applicant. This can be in the form of payslips, P60 or (occasionally) bank statements. Some lenders don’t require this but they are few and far between and generally the highest percentage they will lend is currently 65%. There are some that go higher but they are tough to find. When speaking with these advisors I have yet to get into the nitty gritty details of how much income is required but when I do I’ll update this post. If I don’t then please remind me!

Percentage loan to value:

75% is currently the highest loan-to-value offered, and as stated above these products require proveable income. This figure is quite frustrating because it means more ofmycash would have to be tied up in each investment. This cash, if not invested in property, could be invested elsewhere and be earning income. This will have to be taken into account when carrying out my calculations.

Best rate available:

Currently it seems that the best rate available - and we’re talking pure rates here, without taking into account the arrangement fee etc. - is 3.69% for a 1yr fixed. This has a rather meaty fee of 3.5% (which would be added to the loan). This particular deal can only be used for a loan-to-value of 60%. There are still lots of other deals out there that could work out cheaper and these depend on the applicant and property meeting all the various lending criteria.

I’ll make some more calls later and keep you posted!

With thanks to Pete from his Property Journey website, where he's sharing every success and failure on his ongoing journey from property amateur to buy-to-let entrepreneur. Follow him at http://propertyjourney.tumblr.com, Twitter: @propertyjourney and find him on Facebook.