Chorley Building Society has expanded into buy-to-let lending and folded its limited company, first-time landlord and holiday let options into a simpler range, in a sign that smaller lenders still see room to compete for landlord business despite a choppier rates backdrop.
New rates span first-time and limited company landlords
The mutual said the revised range was built after broker feedback and now puts several landlord borrower types on the same product set and pricing. New headline products include a two-year fixed rate at 5.39% up to 60% loan to value, a two-year fix at 6.29% up to 80% loan to value and a two-year discounted product at 4.49% up to 60% loan to value.
That matters for smaller landlords because specialist buy-to-let borrowing has become harder to compare as lenders keep tweaking criteria, fees and stress tests rather than simply moving headline rates. Simpler product menus do not cut borrowing costs on their own, but they can reduce friction for landlords trying to refinance or buy through limited company structures.
Shane Dye, senior business development manager at Chorley Building Society, said the society had acted on broker feedback and wanted to offer the same schemes and rates across its landlord segments.
This follows Residential Landlord’s analysis of rising buy-to-let costs, which highlighted warnings that higher finance costs could squeeze rental supply. It also sits alongside Residential Landlord’s recent coverage of continued incorporation growth, showing that lender appetite for limited company borrowers has not disappeared even with rates still well above the lows of recent years. More detail on the new range is available from Chorley Building Society.
Why the move matters for landlords
For landlords, the practical point is not that one regional building society changes the market overnight. It is that lenders are still adjusting ranges for borrowers they think can keep writing business – particularly limited company landlords, holiday let borrowers and first-time investors who need specialist underwriting rather than plain-vanilla retail products.
The warning is that product choice does not necessarily mean cheaper debt. A two-year fix above 6% at 80% loan to value still leaves little room for error if rents soften or repair bills rise. Landlords refinancing this spring are likely to care as much about fees, rental stress testing and exit flexibility as the headline coupon.
That makes this less a story about cheap money returning and more a sign that lenders are carving out niches where landlord demand remains strong enough to justify fresh ranges. If more smaller players follow, landlords may regain some bargaining power. If they do not, product launches like this will look more like selective targeting than a broad market recovery.
Opinion
Chorley’s move is useful, but landlords should not mistake a tidier menu for a friendlier market. The real test is whether lenders start competing on total cost and workable criteria, not just on how neatly they package the same expensive debt. Until then, every refinance still needs a cold look at cashflow.
