"From having a direct only mortgage business eight years ago, the vast majority of our mortgage lending now comes through the broker channel."
HSBC UK has reduced most buy-to-let and all international buy-to-let mortgages, with rates across both reducing by up to 0.30%.
The news comes as the lender reaches the milestone of 1,000 broker firms, covering over 23,000 individual brokers, with access to its mortgages.
Among the buy-to-let rate reductions are five-year fixed rate rate purchase products, down by 0.20% to 4.54% at 60% LTV and by 0.30% to 4.64% at 75% LTV,
Two-year buy-to-let remortgages rates now start from 4.69% at 60% LTV and 4.84% at 75% LTV. Five-year switcher products have reduced to 4.44% at 60% LTV and 4.84% at 75% LTV.
All products come with a £1,999 fee.
Commenting on reaching the broker milestone, Chris Pearson, HSBC UK’s head of intermediary mortgages, said: “The world has changed a lot since we carried out a pilot with one provider in 2014, but the industry continues to show its resilience and ability to handle and overcome challenges that come its way. Something we should all be very proud of.
"Since our successful pilot in 2014, we slowly and steadily increased our reach, onboarding a few broker firms at a time to ensure we had the infrastructure and pairs of hands needed to provide a very good service to those brokers who trusted us with their business.
“Our intermediary business has grown significantly, but always sensibly, to provide access to our mortgages to more people looking to move onto or up the property ladder, plus importantly those looking to remortgage, switch or participate in the rental sector through buy-to-let mortgages. From having a direct only mortgage business eight years ago, the vast majority of our mortgage lending now comes through the broker channel. Continuing to provide customers with a full range of channels remains key.
“We have invested heavily in technology to ensure our broker platform works well in addition to bringing in colleagues to enable us to answer thousands of queries a month through our Live Chat or over the phone. The number of people across our intermediary business has grown across every component of the business and we have some of the very best people in the industry, both broker-facing and those colleagues behind the scenes making the magic happen in the UK and right across the globe.
“I’ve been around long enough to be certain that this is a very resilient industry and is well served by hugely talented people. At HSBC UK, we are very much up for what 2023 may bring and our support and optimism for the industry we serve continues to shine brightly.”
