A massive step was taken last week with a lender going back towards the higher LTV lending, with an 80% LTV product for buy to let.

This is yet further evidence that the mortgage market continues to recover and with 2 lenders due to enter the market over the next few weeks, the future for Buy to Let investors is bright!

Since the credit crunch, Buy to Let mortgages have been generally limited to 75% Loan to Value with only the most straight forward, low risk applications succeeding at this level. Many portfolio landlords have been unable to expand as they have already reached their maximum with the mainstream lenders and will welcome the news that alternative options at higher Loan to Values are becoming available.

So overall this seems a good thing?

Well two ways to look at this - it certainly shows the lenders have similar confidence in the market to myself and many other investors ie prices have stabilised, and as we have seen have managed to rise even without much lending out there! As long as the properties they lend on have a strong rental coverage ie generally properties under £100,000, then the lenders should be fine to lend.

As stated previously, I do not expect prices to rise greatly over the next 5 years - there is no economic reasons for this to happen, but prices should certainly continue to rise by 3-5% each year.

This will all depend on the LTV and criteria of lenders.

When buy to let lenders went from 85% LTV to 75% LTV lending, desperate vendors had to offer their properties at 25-30% discount instead of 15-20% to secure a sale to investors.

While this reduced the numbers of willing vendors, it meant those investors who could get finance were able to secure fantastic deals, which will stand them in good stead for the rest of their lives.

This continues to be the case now with us securing deals for both ourselves, as first and foremost we are investors ourselves, and for our investors at 25% below current RICs valuations.

Gaining a genuine £20,000 of equity on day one, allows you to secure an excellent pension for yourself - with some investors buying as many as 5-10 properties for very little money.

It is clear to say that the worst of the credit crunch is over now, which for me means that the next 6-9 months are a crucial time to get the best property bargains. Why you might say if I don't expect prices to rise much overall over the next 5 years, well as mentioned above the biggest bargains are decided by the LTVs available, and with LTVs rising this could well mean the value of the distressed properties will rise as well.

For now we want to make the most of the fantastic opportunities!

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