A buy to let mortgage broker who maps your stress test first

Vortex Finance is a whole-of-market buy to let mortgage broker. We are not tied to any single lender. We compare a panel of 100+ lenders on your side of the table, map your interest cover ratio before you submit anything, and return indicative terms in 3 to 5 working days. There is no fee to find out what fits.

What a buy to let mortgage broker does

A lender approves and funds the mortgage. A broker finds the lender whose rules fit your rent, your structure and your plans, then gets the case in front of them in the right shape. Those are two different jobs.

We do four things on a buy to let case. We match your deal to the lenders whose stress test and rate fit, across the whole market. We model the interest cover ratio before submission so you know what passes. We handle portfolio cases across every property you hold, not just the one in front of us. We refer the tax question to a specialist rather than guess it. Done well, that is the difference between a clean offer and a decline that wastes a credit search.

Whole-of-market versus your own bank

Go to your own bank and you get one set of rules, one stress rate, one decision. If your rent does not stretch far enough for that lender, you start again somewhere else.

We compare 100+ buy to let lenders, including limited-company SPV specialists and lenders built for portfolio landlords. You see the shortlist before you commit. No lender bias, because we are not tied to one. The right lender first time is what gets a tight case over the line.

Passing the ICR stress test

Borrowing on buy to let is driven by rent, not your salary. Lenders run an interest cover ratio: the rent has to cover a multiple of the mortgage interest at a notional stress rate. Standard ICR is 125% at a stress rate around 5.5% for basic-rate and limited-company borrowers. Higher-rate taxpayers are usually stressed at 145%.

Here is a worked example. A property renting at £1,500 a month produces £18,000 a year. At a 125% ICR and a 5.5% stress rate, the rent supports a loan of roughly £262,000. Push the test to 145% and the same rent supports closer to £225,000. We map this before submission, so if the numbers fall short we either find a lender with a workable stress rate or restructure into a company where the maths improves.

Personal name versus limited company SPV

This decision depends on your tax position and your plans, and it is not one we guess at. Personal-name income tax now bites harder than it did, which has pushed many landlords toward a limited-company SPV. A company structure changes how mortgage interest is treated and how profit is taxed, but it carries its own costs and is not right for everyone.

We arrange both, and we refer the tax question to a specialist so you decide with full information. Indicative buy to let rates currently run 4.5% to 6.5% a year, with tracker, fixed and discount products. Maximum loan-to-value sits at 65% to 75%.

Portfolio landlords with four or more properties

If you hold four or more mortgaged buy to lets you are a portfolio landlord, and lenders underwrite the whole portfolio, not just the property you are buying. They look at aggregate loan-to-value, geographic spread, and stress coverage across everything you own.

This is exactly the structuring we handle. We help you scale the next acquisition without breaching covenants on existing facilities, refinance cross-charged debt cleanly, and move into a limited company where it makes sense. Growing from eight rentals to twenty without tripping a covenant is a planning job, and we plan it with you.

How a buy to let broker is paid

On most deals we earn a procuration fee from the lender when the mortgage completes. That is standard practice across the broker market and it does not change the rate you are offered. Our fee model is confirmed upfront before any application.

Every fee that applies to your deal is disclosed in writing before you commit to anything. There is no charge to get indicative terms, a lender shortlist, or a stress-test assessment. You only move to a fee position once you have seen the options and told us to proceed.

Frequently asked questions

All rates, loan-to-values and timescales above are indicative. The lender confirms the final terms on application, once it has seen the property and your file. Vortex Finance is a broker, not a lender.