Can I Airbnb My Home? Turning a Mortgaged Property into a Holiday Let
Yes, it can often be done, but three checks decide whether it works: where the property is, what your current lender will allow, and what your deeds or lease say. More and more homeowners are looking at Airbnb as a ...
Holiday Let Flat Above a Shop: How to Get a Mortgage
Many high street lenders turn down a flat above a shop. Specialist lenders will consider most of them, including flats above restaurants, takeaways and even pubs. Knowing where to go is what makes the purchase work. Walk up almost any ...
Side Hustles and the Bank of Mum and Dad: How First-Time Buyers Are Getting on the Ladder
New research shows buyers are working extra jobs and leaning on family to raise a deposit. Here is how to make sure lenders give you credit for it. Nearly two in three first-time buyers are now working a side hustle ...
First Time Buyer ISA: what we know so far
Budget day, 28 October 2026. This is a developing story and will be updated as the detail is confirmed. The Lifetime ISA is on its way out. In his first Autumn Budget, Chancellor John Healey confirmed that a new First ...
Rental Income Tax Rises Again: What the 2026 Budget Means for Landlords
Updated 29 October 2026, following the Budget on 28 October 2026 If you own rental property in your own name, the tax you pay on your rental profits is going up by four percentage points from 6 April 2027, not ...
Raising Money to Pay a Tax Bill: Why Lenders Say No, and How a Second Charge Can Help
Mainstream and holiday let lenders often refuse capital raising for HMRC debts. Here is why, and what you can do instead. Owing HMRC a large sum is stressful enough. Finding out that the obvious solution, raising money against a property ...
Is the Property You Intend to Buy Suitable for a Holiday Let?
A property can be perfectly mortgageable as a home and still be a non-starter as a holiday let. Here is how to find out before you spend a penny on surveys, solicitors or valuations. Residential is not the same as ...
How to Choose a Mortgage Broker: What to Look For
A good broker earns the right to quote you a rate. A poor one quotes you a rate to earn the right to your business. “What rate can you get me?” It is the first question almost every client asks, ...
Remortgage Activity Surges in Q3: What It Means If Your Deal Is Ending
Remortgaging drove the UK mortgage market in the third quarter of 2026. In September alone, brokers ran around 861,000 residential remortgage searches, up 40% on August and 44% on a year earlier. If your fixed rate ends in the next ...
Start With the End: Why Your Exit Plan Comes First in Development Finance
Most developers plan the build. The ones who get funded plan the way out. Ask most developers about a new project and they will talk you through the site, the build and the finish. Ask a development lender and the ...
Buying a Holiday Let? Why a Second Charge Could Help You Borrow More
How a different approach to affordability can unlock the capital a remortgage cannot, while protecting a low-rate mortgage. If you own a valuable home and want to buy a holiday let, releasing equity from your main residence is often the ...
How to Improve Your Credit Score Before Applying for a Mortgage
A practical guide to getting your credit file mortgage-ready Why your credit file matters more than your score A stronger credit file can widen your choice of lenders, lower your interest rate and reduce the deposit you need. The good ...
Awaab’s Law and the Private Rented Sector
Private landlords in England are a step closer to fixed legal deadlines for fixing damp, mould and other serious hazards. Here is what the government has proposed, what it means for how you finance and run a rental portfolio, and ...
Should I Fix My Mortgage Now? Making Sense of a Market That Keeps Changing Its Mind
If you have been holding off on a mortgage decision because you are waiting for rates to fall, you are in very good company. It is the most common question we are hearing at the moment. The honest answer is ...
Moving Abroad but Keeping Your UK Home: Why Timing Matters for an Expat Buy to Let
A common and sensible plan, with a few timing points worth understanding before you fly out. We were recently contacted by a client planning to emigrate within three months who wanted to hold on to their UK home and let ...
Making Sure You Have Enough Lender Choice
How Drake decides when a case needs more than our own lender access, and how working with a specialist master broker gives you wider choice and the right result. The Short Version Drake is a whole-of-market broker, so we place ...
Adverse Credit Mortgage Sales Hit Their Highest Level Since 2008: What It Means for Borrowers
More people with a blemish on their credit file are getting mortgages than at any point since the financial crisis. Here is what the latest figures show, why it is happening, and what it means if your credit history is ...
Your First Home: New Government Scheme Could Help First-Time Buyers Onto the Ladder With Just a 2.5% Deposit
What we know so far, what is still to be confirmed, and what it could mean for you. Saving for a deposit remains the single biggest hurdle for most first-time buyers. The government has now signalled it wants to lower ...
Clearing the Loan on Your Retirement Holiday Let – A Plan That Holds Even in a Flat Market
Buying your future retirement home now and letting it as a holiday let in the meantime solves one problem: it locks in today’s price before the property you want moves out of reach. But it raises a fair question of ...
Buying Your Future Retirement Home Now – Using a Holiday Let to Get There
Many people picture a specific home for their retirement. A cottage by the coast, a place in a favourite corner of the countryside, somewhere they have holidayed for years. The instinct is usually to wait: keep working, keep saving, and ...
Can I Get a Mortgage With a Default Registered on My File?
Finding a default on your credit file can be alarming, and many people assume it closes the door on home ownership for years. It does not. A default does not automatically prevent you from getting a mortgage. As with most ...
Buying a Holiday Let in Personal Names and Leasing It to Your Company: Good Idea?
Personal-name mortgage rates look cheaper on paper. The lease that makes the tax work can make you a mortgage prisoner. Buying a Holiday Let in Personal Names and Leasing It to Your Company: Why We Advise Against It The question ...
Buying a Property That Needs Converting Before You Can Let It
Why a holiday-let lender will not fund a conversion, and how a two-stage bridge-to-let structure solves it. It is a common and understandable plan: find a property with potential, buy it, convert it, and let it out as a holiday ...
Top Slicing on Holiday Let Mortgages: When the Rental Cover Assessment Falls Short
How surplus personal income can bridge the gap between the loan a holiday let can service on paper and the loan you actually need – including for limited company applications. For most holiday let mortgages, the size of loan a ...