The survey by Shawbrook Bank, a new savings and lending bank, found that these investors were unaware of specialist lenders and of the full range of lending options available to them.
And this is despite the buy-to-let market booming as demand for private rental properties soars.
On top of this, the investors are only turning to the help and advice from commercial mortgage brokers after they have been turned down for a loan by the big banks.
Shawbrook’s is now planning to conduct a quarterly survey looking at the availability and features of commercial mortgages in the property investment market.
Karen Bennett, the bank’s sales and marketing director, said that property investors needed sound advice from those who understand the buy-to-let sector and that commercial mortgage brokers had the most expertise and in-depth knowledge of the market.
Commercial mortgage brokers for buy-to-let investors
She added that from their survey, mortgage brokers said that when it came to the buy-to-let market, 32% of property investors were not aware of specialist lenders which, in turn, meant that they did not know of the full range of funding options available to them.
Shawbrook is a specialist lender offering tailored approach to funding property investors.
Ms Bennet added: “We have now lent £1 billion in the UK and we are still growing. One reason for our success is that people appreciate a closer working relationship between the lender and financial adviser rather than the impersonal tick box approach from big banks.”
The survey also highlighted one complaint from the commercial mortgage lending sector, and that is that brokers often believe that they are only approached as a last resort after investors have been refused a loan by the big banks.
Mortgage brokers step-in to help BTL investors
The mortgage brokers pointed out that only 20% of their property investing clients truly understood the value that mortgage brokers can bring to finding secure funding.
One of the commercial mortgage brokers questioned told the survey: “When banks can’t or won’t, we get involved only once the High Street route has been taken.”
The growing importance of commercial mortgage brokers is becoming more apparent as the high street banks continue to stifle lending to potential property investors who then have to investigate new sources of potential lenders.
However, mortgage brokers in the property investment sector told the survey that 93% of their clients are positive about the UK’s economic outlook.
