Stricter affordability checks for landlords

"The level of detail requested from buy-to-let borrowers differs from lender to lender, and also depends on how zealous the specific underwriter that assesses the application is. It's commonplace for tax returns to be requested as part of routine due diligence, and this is something that a mortgage broker should be requesting from each applicant at outset. That said, a request for evidence of the source of funds from 20 years ago is unnecessary and unlikely to add any value to a risk-based lending assessment."

"It has been suggested lately that a mortgage adviser could be complicit in tax evasion by failing to check that a landlord is declaring their rental income by asking for a copy of their tax return. Some lenders, such as Paragon, have long asked for tax returns as well as tax summaries and tax year overviews. Some lenders, such as BM Solutions, may ask for copies of tax documents post-offer (and even completion) as part of their quality assurance checks. The days of "non status" buy-to-let applications have passed and these documents should be routinely available and collected as part of standard KYC processes."