Keystone has made a number of adjustments to its houses in multiple lending (HMO) lending criteria, including an increase in the maximum LTV level.

This has been upped from 75% LTV to 80% LTV, for both its standard and green ranges.

As part of the overhaul, the lender is now allowing applications for HMOs of up to 15 beds and multi-unit properties (MUP) of up to 15 flats, instead of the 10 beds and 10 flats as was the case previously.

Additionally, first-time landlords are now able to purchase HMOs and MUPs of up to six beds and flats respectively while ex-pats have been granted their own range of products, starting at 3.34%.

As well as this, the maximum amount of cashback available has gone up from £3,000 to £5,000, and the maximum portfolio size allowed has risen from £3m to £10m and the maximum individual loan size has been increased from £1m to £2m.

Keystone managing director Elise Coole says: “[Last year] was a momentous year for Keystone but we want to lend even more in 2022, which is why we have significantly improved our criteria today. We believe these changes will make us a much more attractive proposition to brokers and landlords operating in the specialist end of the market.

“However, we haven’t made these criteria changes on a whim. They are the result of our ongoing dialogue with our brokers to find out what they and their clients want and need from a specialist buy-to-let lender.

“As a lender, we are always trying to evolve and improve, though, which is why brokers and landlords can expect a lot more from us in the coming 12 months.”