Limited Company Buy to Let: Lenders and Criteria
Buying through a company changes who the lender is dealing with, and the criteria change with it. Most of the differences are knowable in advance, and most of them decide which lenders can look at the case at all.
- Why lenders expect an SPV
- How interest cover is tested
- Why personal guarantees are standard
- What moving an existing property really costs
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Where limited company lending sits
Limited company buy to let is mostly not a high street product. The bulk of it is written by specialist lenders who distribute through intermediaries rather than branches, which means the comparison you can do yourself from the outside is limited. That is a structural feature of this part of the market rather than a sales line. The lenders we work with page lists the buy to let specialists we approach.
The practical consequence is that criteria vary much more than they do in mainstream residential lending. Two lenders looking at the same company, the same property and the same rent can reach materially different answers, because they stress the rent differently, treat the shareholders differently, or will not accept the company structure at all.
It also means the order of work matters. Getting the company right before the application is far cheaper than discovering halfway through that the structure rules out most of the options.
This guide covers lender criteria. For how a limited company purchase works from start to finish, see limited company buy to let mortgages.
If you are still deciding between a company and personal ownership, start with limited company mortgages.
Why lenders expect an SPV
Most lenders in this space want a special purpose vehicle: a company set up to hold property and do nothing else. The reason is straightforward. A company that only holds property has no trading creditors, no stock, no employment liabilities and no unrelated business risk, so the lender can underwrite the property and the rent rather than a business.
Ready to arrange a mortgage through your company? See our limited company buy to let mortgages page.
A company that already trades in something else, with property held alongside it, is considerably harder to place. It is not impossible, but the list of lenders who will look at it is shorter and the terms are usually worse. If a company structure is being set up from scratch for a purchase, setting it up as a property-only vehicle avoids the problem entirely.
Lenders will also check that the company’s registered activity matches what it is actually doing, so the SIC code recorded at Companies House needs to describe property letting or property investment rather than a general trading activity. The current list is published by Companies House. Newly incorporated companies are generally acceptable, and no trading history is normally required, because the lender is underwriting the property and the people behind it.
There is usually a cap on how many people can be involved, commonly a small number of shareholders who are all expected to be directors. Where there are several, lenders typically want each of them assessed and each of them on the guarantee.
| Lender | Permitted SIC codes | Minimum income | Maximum directors or shareholders |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aldermore | 68100, 68201, 68209, 68320, published in its limited company guide. The July 2026 criteria guide publishes no list | No minimum for limited companies. The £25,000 figure applies to first-time landlords | Not published |
| Keystone | 68100, 68209 or 68320 | No minimum published for companies | Maximum 4 directors, all of whom must be party to the mortgage |
| Landbay | 68100, 68201, 68209, 68320, 7012, 7020, 7032 | £25,000 where landlord experience is under 24 months, and none above that. This page is dated May 2023 | Maximum 4 directors or members. Shareholders of 25% or more must be party to the mortgage; 24.9% or less need not be |
| Fleet | 68100, 68201, 68209, 68320. Holding companies may also use 64203 and 64209 | “No minimum income requirement” | Maximum 4 applicants |
| Foundation Lending | 68100, 68209 or 68320 and no other code registered - the strictest position of the ten | No minimum. The applicant must show income independent of the rental income | Up to 4 directors. A director owning 20% or more is classed as self-employed |
| Zephyr | 68100, 68201, 68209, 68320, plus 55100, 55209, 68310, 7012, 7020, 7032. No other codes permitted | No general minimum, but £50,000 if earned income is used to cover a rental shortfall, and £25,000 for a professional landlord. Top slicing is not available to SPVs | Maximum 4 directors and shareholders. Directors must hold at least 60% and no other shareholder may exceed 20% |
| CHL | CHL 1: 68100, 68201, 68209, 68320. CHL 2: all SIC codes considered | £20,000 combined income per application | Up to 4 applicants, and up to 4 guarantors who must together hold at least 75% of controlling share capital |
| The Mortgage Works | At least one of 68100, 68201, 68209, 68320 | Not stated | Maximum 2 directors, who must all be applicants. Minority shareholders up to 4, holding 25% combined and no more than 20% each |
| LendInvest | No numeric list published. The code must relate to property management, investment or development | No figure published for companies | Maximum 4 directors, shareholders or members |
| Molo | 64305, 64910, 68100, 68201, 68209, 68310, 68320. 68201 cannot be the sole code | “No minimum income” | Maximum 4 directors and 4 shareholders on the mortgage |
Criteria checked on 10 October 2026. The SIC code column is the one that catches people out, because it is checked at Companies House and it is checked before anything else. If your company carries a trading code alongside a property code, Foundation Lending will decline it outright, while CHL will consider any SIC code on its CHL 2 tier. Fixing a SIC code at Companies House is quick; discovering the problem a week before exchange is not. For maximum LTVs, interest cover and personal guarantee requirements lender by lender, see our main page on limited company buy to let mortgages. Sources as listed on the criteria table above.
How interest cover is tested
Buy to let affordability is driven by the rent rather than your income, through an interest cover ratio. The rent has to exceed the mortgage interest by a set margin, and the test is applied at a stressed rate rather than the rate you will actually pay. That stress rate is the part borrowers consistently underestimate.
The required ratio is typically lower for a company than for an individual higher rate taxpayer, because the tax treatment of the interest differs between the two. In practice company cases are commonly tested at around 125 per cent cover, against around 145 per cent for a higher rate individual. Those are market norms rather than rules, they vary between lenders, and the figure that applies to your case is confirmed at the point of enquiry.
The arithmetic is worth seeing. On a £200,000 loan stressed at 5.5 per cent, the annual interest is £11,000, or about £917 a month. At 125 per cent cover the rent needs to be roughly £1,146 a month. At 145 per cent the same loan needs about £1,329. The difference between those two numbers is often the difference between a case that works and one that does not, which is why the structure question and the affordability question are really the same question.
Personal guarantees are standard
Nearly every limited company buy to let mortgage is supported by personal guarantees from the directors and shareholders. This surprises people who incorporated specifically to separate themselves from the borrowing. The guarantee commonly covers a substantial proportion of the loan, and in many cases more than the loan itself to allow for costs.
The honest way to put it is that a company structure changes the tax treatment and the legal owner of the property. It does not make the borrowing non-recourse, and it does not put the debt beyond your personal reach if the property does not perform. Anyone being told otherwise should ask to see the guarantee wording.
Where there are several shareholders, expect each of them to be asked for a guarantee, and expect each of them to be credit checked. One weak file among four can affect the whole application, in much the same way as it would on a joint residential application.
The tax position, and the part people miss
The reason most landlords look at companies at all is the restriction on finance cost relief for individuals. For individual landlords, relief on mortgage interest is limited to a basic rate tax reduction of 20 per cent rather than being deducted from rental income, calculated as 20 per cent of the lower of the finance costs, the property profits, or income above the personal allowance, and it cannot create a refund. The restriction was phased in from April 2017 and has applied in full since the 2020 to 2021 tax year.
That restriction applies to individual landlords. It does not apply to companies, where finance costs remain an expense set against profit in the normal way. A company then pays corporation tax on what is left: 19 per cent where profits are £50,000 or less, 25 per cent where they are £250,000 or more, with marginal relief between those limits. Those rates have applied since 1 April 2023, and the thresholds are reduced where there are associated companies.
The part that gets missed is that money inside a company is not money in your pocket. Taking it out is a second tax event, through salary or dividends, and once that is counted the comparison is much closer than the headline corporation tax rate suggests. Whether a company works for you depends on whether you need the income now, how many properties you hold, what else you earn and what you intend to do with the portfolio eventually.
Momentum Financial Services Ltd and Falcon Finance do not provide tax or legal advice. Whether a company structure is right for you is a question for an accountant or a suitably qualified tax adviser, and it should be answered before the mortgage application rather than after it.
Moving a property you already own into a company
This is where limited company plans most often stop. Transferring a property you own personally into your own company is not a transfer in any practical sense. It is a sale at market value from you to the company, and it is treated as one.
That means the company is buying, so stamp duty is payable on the purchase, usually including the additional property surcharge. It also means you are selling, so capital gains tax may be due on the gain since you bought it. And because the legal owner changes, the existing mortgage cannot come with it: the company needs its own new mortgage, with new fees and new legal work.
Relief is available in narrow circumstances for genuine property businesses, but it is fact specific and it is a question for a tax adviser rather than a broker. The sensible sequence is to get the cost of incorporating quantified first, then decide, then arrange the lending. Doing it the other way round is how people end up with a tax bill they had not planned for.
| Lender | How it treats the transfer | Using your existing equity as the deposit |
|---|---|---|
| Zephyr | The most detailed published position. The price must match the valuation and the seller must have owned the property for at least 12 months. A property the seller has lived in themselves is not permitted, and the seller needs separate legal representation | The seller’s equity may convert to a director’s loan on completion |
| LendInvest | Treated as a purchase. A transfer at undervalue, including at nil, may be considered where ownership matches exactly, and a share issue is accepted where ownership mirrors the SPV. Separate legal representation is required and an offer condition requires independent tax advice | Existing equity can be used as a deposit through a director’s loan account. Inter-family sales require a 10% personal contribution |
| The Mortgage Works | Where a director already owns the property and the company is buying it, the case must be submitted as a purchase. A director’s main residence is considered only alongside a simultaneous onward purchase with another lender, with the director moving out on completion | Gifted equity is referenced in that context |
| Aldermore | Technically a sale and purchase at market value, needing a new application, and likely to trigger capital gains tax and stamp duty. Aldermore recommends tax advice before you start | Director’s loans and intercompany loans are acceptable. Gifted equity is not accepted |
| Foundation Lending | Transfers from an individual to an SPV, and back the other way, are acceptable as a gifted equity source. Capital raising to repay a director’s loan is acceptable where the funds are invested in the buy-to-let business | Director’s loans are an acceptable deposit source |
| Fleet | “We would class this as a purchase” | Not published |
| Paragon | Will not consider a purchase from an associated limited company, per its non-portfolio guidelines dated January 2024. Limited company applications go through the portfolio range only | Not published |
| Molo | Not addressed in its published criteria | Not addressed |
Criteria checked on 10 October 2026. Every lender that addresses this treats it as a sale and purchase at market value, not an internal reorganisation - which is exactly why it triggers stamp duty on the company purchase and a potential capital gains tax bill for you personally. The planning point is that your existing equity does not have to be found in cash: most of these lenders will accept it as a director’s loan to the company, which also gives you a route to draw funds back out later without it being a dividend. That is a conversation for your accountant before you speak to a lender, not after. Sources: Zephyr Underwriting Guide (April 2026); LendInvest Buy-to-Let Lending Criteria (29 June 2026); The Mortgage Works limited company criteria; Aldermore Guide to Limited Company Buy to Let (May 2021); Foundation Lending Buy to Let Criteria Guide v10 INT; Fleet Criteria Guide v69 (15 September 2026); Paragon non-portfolio lending guidelines (January 2024); Molo Mortgage Lending Criteria v2.3 (September 2024).
What to do now
Four steps, in this order. The first two cost nothing and they determine whether the rest is worth doing.
Check the company
Confirm the structure, the registered activity, and who the shareholders and directors are. Fix it before applying, not during.
Get the rent stress tested
Work out the cover at a stressed rate rather than the asking rent. This is what sets the maximum loan.
Get the tax position checked
Speak to an accountant about whether the structure helps your wider position, and what incorporating an existing property would cost.
Then place the case
With the company, the cover and the tax position settled, the lending conversation is straightforward.
Thinking About Buying Through a Company?
Tell us the company position, the property and the expected rent. We will tell you what the interest cover looks like before you commit to anything.
Limited Company Buy to Let: Common Questions
Do I need an SPV, or will my existing trading company do?
Most lenders in this market want a property-only company. A trading company holding property alongside another business can sometimes be placed, but the choice of lender narrows considerably and the terms are usually worse. If the company is being formed for the purchase, forming it as a property vehicle avoids the issue.
How much rent do I need for a limited company buy to let?
It is set by an interest cover ratio tested at a stressed rate, not the rate you pay. Company cases are commonly tested at around 125 per cent cover. On a £200,000 loan stressed at 5.5 per cent that points to roughly £1,146 a month, though the ratio and the stress rate both vary by lender and are confirmed for your case.
Will I have to give a personal guarantee?
Almost certainly. Personal guarantees from directors and shareholders are standard, and they often cover more than the loan amount to allow for costs. A company structure changes the tax treatment and the legal owner; it does not make the borrowing non-recourse.
Is a limited company cheaper than buying in my own name?
Not automatically. Company products are often priced slightly higher, and taking profit out of the company is a second tax event. Whether it works depends on your wider tax position, how many properties you hold and whether you need the income now. That is a question for an accountant rather than a broker.
Can I move a property I already own into my company?
You can, but it is a sale at market value rather than a transfer. Stamp duty is normally payable by the company, capital gains tax may be payable by you, and a new mortgage is required because the legal owner changes. Get the full cost quantified by a tax adviser before deciding.
Can a newly formed company get a mortgage?
Yes. Lenders in this market routinely accept newly incorporated companies with no trading history, because they are underwriting the property, the rent and the people standing behind the guarantees rather than a trading record.
Have a different question? Get in touch or read our limited company buy to let mortgages page.
Written and reviewed by Osman Emin, CeMAP, mortgage and protection adviser · FCA register OCE01003 · Updated