Mortgage Express has today said that it will be waiving all early repayment charges (ERCs) for buy to let borrowers who pay off their mortgage between February and June 2009.

Mortgage Express, the buy to let part of Bradford & Bingley, actually stopped lending in September 08.

Their website states ‘we may not be able to offer our customers a competitive new deal when they to the end of their existing product term’ and goes on to say ‘if you are an existing customer moving home, looking for a new deal or require additional funds’ then to call Mortgage Express or speak to your financial adviser.

Mortgage Express will not however be able to help you other than if you no longer have a relationship with your original adviser. If that is the case then they will refer you to one with whom they have an arrangement to provide support.

ERCs can be quite costly. By waiving them for this period, Mortgage Express are removing one of the barriers which could otherwise prevent borrowers from either paying off a significant capital amount, selling their property or transferring their buy to let mortgage to another mortgage lender.

Interestingly though selling rental properties doesn’t seem to be high on the priority list for landlords.

In the latest quarterly Association of Residential Lettings Agents (ARLA) Review and Index, 88% of investment landlords do not expect to sell their properties during the next twelve months and more than 20% are expecting to maintain their investments for over 20 years.

Ian Potter, Head of Operations at ARLA said, ‘Again and again, these independent surveys show that Buy to Let landlords are helping to guarantee the growth of the private rented sector and these are the people who provide the housing solutions for those hit by the current recession and into the future.’

The review also reported that across their portfolios, investors have an average Loan to Value (LTV) of 56%.

This loan to value ratio is an important factor if you are considering moving your mortgage to another lender.

Even though the Bank of England base rate has fallen to an all time low, buy to let mortgage rates are still quite high and critically the loan to value ratio is now generally at least 70%. To get the best rates though the LTV ratios are often around 60%.

These LTV percentages could well be much higher than when your original mortgage was taken out. This coupled with the fall in house values could well present issues when trying to remortgage your buy to let property in the current market.