Revamp for refurbs as future of buy-to-let sector looks bright

Breaking news here at Octane Towers: we’ve revved up our refurbishment range with immediate effect. The changes are wholesale and, like our recent decision to cut large loan rates by as much as 20%, come on the back of our 2020 Risk Review.

For the finer details about our new refurb rates and criteria, obviously speak to your BDM as usual but the headline change is that we’ve increased the level of works permitted from 50% up to 100%+ of the current market value of a property for heavy refurbishment projects.

We’ve also increased both the Maximum LTV (Day One) and Maximum LTGDV (Loan to Gross Development Value) up to 75%, providing landlords and property investors with the flexibility and financial firepower to achieve their goals and stay competitive. 

Refurbs are not just a way for landlords to manufacture value out of their portfolios to mitigate the impact of taxation changes but also to reinvent them to remain competitive alongside the growing threat that is PRS.

Hopefully these changes are coming at a good time for you and your clients. Data published this week by UK Finance showed that there were 5,700 new buy-to-let home purchase mortgages completed in December 2019, 3.6 per cent more than the same month the previous year.

Given that the closing stages of 2019 were among the most tumultuous in recent political history, that’s a powerful indication that the buy-to-let market has stabilised and that those who remain in it are becoming increasingly active.

While buy-to-let may never again reach the heights of old, what’s now clear is that the sector has weathered the brutal storm that started in 2015 with George Osborne’s taxation changes.

The future for the sector is looking brighter than it has for a long time and so for any landlords seeking to reinvent or breathe new life into their portfolios, my message is simple: make Octane your first port of call.