ModaMortgages and Molo have both cut buy-to-let pricing, extending the recent run of lender repricing as competition keeps building across specialist landlord finance.
Moda has reduced rates by 20 basis points across its limited-edition two-year and five-year fixed products, taking two-year fixes down to 3.34% for standard properties and 3.44% for HMOs and small multi-unit blocks. Molo has trimmed standard rates by up to five basis points and specialist HMO and MUFB products by up to 10 basis points.
For landlords, the latest move matters less because of one eye-catching headline rate and more because it adds to the evidence that lenders are still chasing business beyond the biggest high-street names.
Specialist lenders are still pressing on price and property type
Moda said its five-year limited-edition fixes now start from 4.94% for single dwellings and 5.04% for HMOs and MUFBs with up to six bedrooms or units. Products remain open to individual and limited company landlords up to 80% loan to value, with free valuations across the range.
Molo’s latest changes leave standard two-year fixed rates starting from 3.05%, while specialist HMO and MUFB products now start from 3.16% on a two-year fix. Its five-year specialist equivalents start from 4.84%.
Martin Sims, distribution director at Molo, said the lender wanted to stay competitive across both straightforward and more complex landlord cases as market conditions continue to shift.
This follows Residential Landlord’s recent report on lenders broadening loan options beyond headline rates, which argued that landlord choice was improving even before this latest repricing round. The new cuts suggest that trend has not stalled.
Residential Landlord has also tracked how competition at higher loan-to-value levels is starting to matter again. That does not mean the market has become easy, but it does mean brokers and landlords have more room to compare product structure, fees and property-type appetite rather than just accept a thin shortlist.
The more useful landlord angle here is that specialist lenders are not all chasing the same borrowers. Moda is leaning into limited-edition pricing across vanilla and HMO stock, while Molo is still positioning itself hard around more complex property types. That matters for investors refinancing mixed portfolios or planning purchases outside standard single-let stock.
Headline cuts still need a margin check
Landlords should still read past the headline number. Fee structures, valuation offers, stress tests and property eligibility all shape whether a deal genuinely works. A cheap two-year fix can look less attractive once fees and refinance risk are brought back into the calculation.
Even so, the direction of travel is hard to miss. Smaller and specialist lenders continue to test each other on pricing, and that is better news for active landlords than a market dominated by defensive retrenchment.
If that pressure keeps building through summer, the next real battleground may not be another fraction off the rate. It may be who is prepared to back complex stock, limited company structures and landlords who still want to grow rather than just refinance.
Molo’s landlord mortgage site gives the clearest public guide to its current specialist buy-to-let proposition.
Opinion
Rate cuts are welcome, but landlords should not confuse a livelier lender market with a cheap one. The real improvement is choice. After a long stretch of narrow product shelves, that matters almost as much as price.
