Portfolio landlords: remortgaging when you have four or more.
With four or more mortgaged buy-to-lets you are a portfolio landlord and every lender must look at the whole portfolio, not just the property in front of them. Here is what that means and how to make it painless.
The rule
Since 2017 the Prudential Regulation Authority has required lenders to assess portfolio landlords (four or more mortgaged buy-to-lets, personally or through companies) on the whole portfolio. In practice, each lender sets its own portfolio limits:
- Portfolio rental cover: typically 125% to 145% across all properties at a stress rate of 5% to 5.5%.
- Portfolio loan-to-value: usually a maximum of 65% to 75% across everything.
- Maximum number of properties or total borrowing with that lender, and sometimes in total: some cap at 10 or 20 properties, or £2 million to £5 million; specialist lenders go far higher.
- Experience: some want two or more years as a landlord.
The paperwork
Every portfolio application needs a property schedule: each property's address, value, lender, mortgage balance, rate, deal end date, monthly rent, and ownership. Most lenders want it on their own spreadsheet. Many also want:
- A business plan: a page on what you own, how it is managed, and what you intend to do (hold, grow, sell down).
- A cash flow forecast: rent in, mortgage, costs, tax, and the surplus, for the next year or two.
- Assets and liabilities statement.
- Your last two years' tax returns or accounts.
Keep the schedule up to date permanently. Landlords who have it ready get offers weeks faster than those who assemble it under pressure with a deal ending.
Strategy for deals ending at different times
Portfolios accumulate mortgages with different lenders and end dates. Options:
- Remortgage each as it ends, keeping the schedule current so each application is quick. Simple, and it keeps you free to use the best lender for each property.
- Consolidate several properties onto one lender, sometimes with a single portfolio mortgage. Fewer applications and one relationship; less flexibility, and one lender's limits apply to everything.
- Align end dates over a cycle, so future remortgages happen together. Some landlords choose deal lengths to achieve this.
Where portfolios fail the test
Usually on portfolio cover: a few low-yield properties bought for capital growth drag the whole portfolio below 125% at the stress rate, and a lender declines a remortgage on a perfectly good property because of the others. Fixes: five-year fixes across the portfolio (lower stress rates), selling or paying down the weakest, moving to a lender with more generous portfolio rules, or a limited company structure for new purchases.
Specialist lenders
Beyond about ten properties or £2 million, mainstream buy-to-let lenders drop away and the specialist and commercial lenders take over: bigger limits, bespoke underwriting, and often pricing that depends on the relationship. This is broker-only territory, and the right broker has placed portfolios like yours before.
A note on the numbers. Rental cover ratios, stress rates, loan-to-value limits and fees are typical of the market at the time of writing (2026) and differ from lender to lender. Tax rules are for individuals and companies resident in the UK and change with each Budget. This is general information, not advice: a broker will tell you what applies to your property, and an accountant what applies to your tax.
Common questions
Does a property in a limited company count towards the four?
Yes. The four-property test counts mortgaged buy-to-lets you own personally and through companies you control.
Do I need a business plan for a single remortgage?
If you are a portfolio landlord, most lenders ask for one even when you are only refinancing one property. It can be a single page.
Is it worth having all my properties with one lender?
Sometimes, for simplicity and pricing on large portfolios. The risk is concentration: if that lender's criteria change, everything is affected. Many landlords spread across two or three.
Your deal is ending. Let's get a broker on it.
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