"It's important that property landlords and investors know that funding options are still accessible and LendInvest intends to keep accepting applications that meet our criteria."
LendInvest has limited bridging loan LTVs to 70% for residential property and 60% for commercial property.
For buy-to-let, LendInvest has limited LTVs to 70% and will lend a maximum of £750,000 on standard properties and HMOs up to eight rooms only.
LendInvest will process new applications using automated valuation models. Offers on successful applications will be made on condition that a full physical valuation is conducted before completion.
During March, LendInvest completed 70 bridging loans and over 150 buy-to-let loans and the company continues to complete loans already in its pipeline.
In an open letter to staff, Rod Lockhart, CEO of LendInvest, addressed the decision to make these changes to lending criteria. Rod said that the company “intends to keep lending albeit with much greater caution”. He added that the lender has made some important choices about its lending terms, “tightening them in places where it makes sense to be more prudent and circumspect while events unfold”.
Rod Lockhart commented: “It has been an extraordinary few weeks - unlike anything any of us has experienced in our working lives. At such a challenging time, it’s important that property landlords and investors know that funding options are still accessible and LendInvest intends to keep accepting applications that meet our criteria. We also want to make sure that when this is over LendInvest is best placed to hit the ground running again.”
