The buy-to-let market is getting younger, with 75% of new buy-to-let company shareholders under 50, up from 68% a decade ago. Many of these are entering for the first time, whether a professional looking to diversify or a client who simply wants a foothold in the rental market.

The challenge is that many lenders treat the absence of landlord experience as a reason to pause…or worse, decline. The assumption is that without a track record, the risk is harder to read.

At Molo, we take a different view.

We accept applications from first-time landlords as standard. We define a first-time landlord simply as someone who hasn’t previously purchased a buy-to-let property in the UK. That doesn’t make them an unknown quantity. Employment, income stability, credit history and the strength of the property itself all contribute to a clear picture of how the loan will perform.

• For standard buy-to-let and holiday let applications, first-time landlords can access up to 80% LTV.
• The rental calculation follows the same rules that apply across our book, which is 125% ICR for basic rate taxpayers and 145% for higher rate.
• Where the numbers work, we focus on moving the case forward rather than making the lack of prior experience a barrier.

Where experience does matter, like for HMOs, we require at least 12 months of landlord history, and we are upfront about that. But for a client taking their first step into buy-to-let with a straightforward property, that restriction does not apply.

If you are working with a client who is new to landlord status but strong on everything else, it is worth knowing the door is open.

Speak to our Team