NatWest has revamped its buy-to-let affordability calculator, portfolio assessments and stress tests, which it says will make loan applications “easier for brokers and their landlord customers”.  

The high street bank says it will launch a streamlined BTL affordability calculator, which now contains “just 11 key questions for the majority of customers” to allow brokers to calculate the cost of a loan quickly.  

Its portfolio landlord’s assessments will be based on loan-to-value and rental income on both the subject property and their portfolio. The test will remove all personal income assessments for portfolio landlords.    

The lender will also reduce packaging requirements for portfolio landlords, with underwriters no longer needing to validate personal income or commitments.   

It points out that brokers will be responsible for validating customer’s income, and retaining the documentation, which is the same process as the bank’s small landlord applications.  

Finally, the firm says it is introducing “dynamic product stress rates” for BTL applications.   

This means that the stress rate and the maximum loan amount will be driven by the product rate chosen and the term of that product, giving the landlord an affordability measure that is personalised to them.   

No maximum loan amount or stress rate is locked in until an application has been submitted.   

The lower the stress rate — which is driven by application type, product rate and term — the higher the maximum lend will be.  

NatWest head of mortgage distribution Brad Fordham says: “We want brokers to know that the changes we’ve made to our BTL mortgage proposition make us even more reliable, consistent and flexible for their landlord customers.    

“In particular, the changes to our BTL affordability calculator make it quicker and easier than ever for brokers to calculate landlords’ affordability.”