Portfolios 'help with future purchases'

Solicitors in Belfast and Northern Ireland are likely to see landlords who already have a portfolio of properties finding it easier to get a mortgage than new landlords.

While solicitors are seeing many people in Belfast and Northern Ireland unable to afford a mortgage, investors who have an existing loan could use this position to borrow more, experts say.

Peter O'Donovan, mortgage manager for Bestinvest, said: "In my experience people with portfolios have some properties that have got a small mortgage and some that have a large one.

"Different lenders sell different types of products for these people. They utilise properties that have got a smaller mortgage and aggregate the rental calculation over the whole portfolio rather than over one property.

"So the properties with less mortgage left to pay can maybe be used to borrow more than the normal 85 per cent to make a new purchase. In that way, people with portfolios are usually able to utilise that portfolio to help them with further purchases."

He added: "Whereas if you're just buying one, that one has to cover the rental calculation, and if you're in an area where there might be an overflow of properties, or if it's just not a particularly good place to rent, it's going to be difficult getting the mortgage because the rental income is less."

With house prices remaining high in Belfast and Northern Ireland, solicitors may find that many of their clients are landlords who already own property.

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