easy buy-to-let questions....

[timetosmile]

...which I am struggling to find an answer to...

what is a ballpark figure for a ltv ratio / % deposit for a btl property - for example, if we were looking at a property worth £160,000 what would the deposit be?

Is it dependant on our current income (like a residential mortgage) or projected rental income?

Most of the websites I've looked at need you to feed these figures in but we're still wondering about the 'shall we do this?' maths!

And I'm self employed with a steady and demonstrable income over the past 7 years and secure employment prospects...the web calculators don't like this either! Will it make a significant difference in real life? (DH is salaried)

Thanks

Hi timetosmile, it's been a while since I did this and I know things have changed somewhat. It used to be at least 15% but I'm pretty certain you have to be looking at closer to 25% now. The potential yield is also a considerable factor for consideration which varies from lender to lender. Sorry I can't be more specific and hopefully somebody with more current knowledge will drop in soon.

I don't think many lenders would go further than a 60-65% mortgage on a BTL property. The Mortgage Works is one company which will generally lend regardless of income on BTLs - it's more based on the value of the property and the rental income you will make on it.

I've found you need a min of 25% deposit and then the amount you can borrow is based on th rental income typically 125% of the interest on the mortage is needed pcm.

Obv this is diff if your using your own house as a security, but personally I woundn't do that.