The Mortgage Works has introduced a decision-in-principle stage for limited company landlord purchases and remortgages.  

Nationwide’s buy-to-let arm says the move will “speed up the purchase and remortgage application process for brokers and landlords”. 

It adds that these applications “will now see decision-in-principle’s leave a soft footprint on a landlord’s credit file.  

“A hard footprint will only be left on the credit file once the full application is submitted.” 

The business adds that it has updated its limited company shareholder policy to allow minority shareholders with a holding of 20% or less.  

The lender says: “A limited company can have up to four minority shareholders — with a maximum combined holding of 25% — and they do not need to be part of the mortgage and won’t be credit assessed or required to sign a personal guarantee.” 

The Mortgage Works head of buy-to-let mortgages Dan Clinton says: “As one of the country’s leading buy-to-let lenders, we always aim to make the application process as smooth and quick as possible to support brokers and their landlord clients.  

“The changes we’re announcing today are based on feedback we’ve been getting from brokers in recent months.  

“And, continuing our longstanding support for the limited company market, we’re also making enhancements to our limited company application process to ensure The Mortgage Works remains front of mind for those landlords.”