How we can help

In order to help we first need to understand your individual circumstances and the details of your investment properties.

If you're worried you may struggle to make your payment the sooner you contact us the sooner we can start working through the options available to you. We've got lots of experience dealing with customers with Buy to Let properties, we know the problems that landlords face and there are lots of things on which we can offer support.

We reccognise that the support you need with a Buy to Let mortgage is different from that of a residential mortgage and the help we can give if you're having payment problems takes this into account.

We also recognise that customers with multiple properties are likely to experience different challenges. If you've got 5 or more Buy to Let mortgages with us we've got a dedicated team of telephone and field based agents that can help you keep your portfolio of properties on track.

The information in the following section sets out how we will treat you fairly, and the steps you can take to help yourself.

What we will do to help you
  • Contact you as soon as possible to discuss your problem.
  • Talk to an agency which gives debt advice (for example, Citizens Advice), if you want us to.
  • Give you reasonable time to pay back the debt.
  • Only start legal proceedings that may lead to repossession of your property if we cannot solve the problem with you.
What we might be able to do to help you
  • Arrange a new payment plan with you, taking your and our interests into account.
  • Change the way you make your payments, or the date you make them.
  • If you have a repayment mortgage, allow you to pay back your mortgage over a longer period of time (which would reduce your monthly payments).
  • Change the type of mortgage.

If we cannot offer you any of these options, we will tell you why. If we can make one of these arrangements with you, we will explain how it would work and give you time to consider it and advise you to seek independent advice.

What you can do to help us
  • Contact us as soon as possible if you are having problems repaying your mortgage or think that you might experience problems shortly.
  • Seek debt advice if you would like help with managing your finances.
  • Contact us back quickly if we try to contact you.
  • Make sure you keep any other people paying the mortgage, and anyone guaranteeing the mortgage, up to date with what is happening.
  • Keep to the payment plan we agree with you, or tell us if there is a change in your circumstances which may affect the arrangement. If you do not make the agreed payments, we might have to go to court to get back any money you owe us, or to repossess your property.
  • Check whether you can get any state benefits or tax credits which could help to increase your income.
  • If you have an insurance policy, check whether it would help with your payments.
  • Tell us if you move to a new address or change your contact details.
Getting independent advice

You may want to talk to a professional adviser, such as a debt counsellor or a lawyer, before you change your mortgage arrangements. We would strongly advise that you seek independent, free, debt advice. This can be obtained from a range of not for profit organisations shown below.

Citizens Advice Bureau
The Citizens Advice service helps people resolve their legal, money and other problems by providing free information and advice. They can offer advice face-to face or over the telephone.
Citizens Advice Scotland

Citizens Advice Scotland have been providing advice and information to the Scottish public for over 60 years. They offer a free, confidential, impartial and independent service and have a specific Debt Advice section.

Consumer Credit Counselling Service

The Consumer Credit Counselling Service is a registered charity whose purpose is to assist people who are in financial difficulty by providing free, independent, impartial and realistic advice. Visit their website or call their helpline on 0800 138 1111.

National Debtline

National Debtline is a national telephone helpline for people with debt problems in England, Wales and Scotland. The service is free, confidential and independent. There is a website for people in England & Wales and a separate site for those in Scotland. The central helpline number is 0808 808 4000.

Costs and Charges
If you are in arrears, we may charge you for reasonable administrative and legal costs. We will tell you the amount you will have to pay.
Find details of all our Fees & Charges
What happens if we cannot agree on a solution
  • We may send a field agent to see you to discuss your financial circumstances in the process of finding a suitable solution. The cost of the visit may be charged to your mortgage account.
  • We may go to court to start proceedings to repossess your property. If proceedings take place, we strongly recommend that you attend the court and that you seek independent debt advice. Starting court proceedings does not necessarily mean that we will repossess your property.
  • We will keep trying to solve the problem with you. Repossession is a last resort.
  • Before we repossess your property, we will give you advice about getting in touch with your local authority to see if they can find you somewhere else to live.
What happens if we repossess your property
  • We will sell it for the best price we can reasonably get. We will try to sell it as soon as possible.
  • We will give you reasonable time to take your possessions from your property.
  • We will use the money raised from selling your property to pay your mortgage and any other loans or charges secured against your property. If there is any money left over, we will pay it to you unless it's a Buy-to-Let mortgage and you have other mortgages with us.
Shortfall debt
  • If there is not enough money from the sale of your property to pay the whole mortgage, you will still owe us the amount that is left (a shortfall debt). We will tell you what this is as soon as possible.
  • If you bought your property with other borrowers, each of you is responsible for all the money borrowed. This is true even if you normally only pay part of the mortgage.  
  • We will contact you within six years of selling your property (five years in Scotland) to arrange for you to pay back what you still owe.
  • We will take account of your income and outgoings when we arrange a payment plan for this shortfall debt with you. But if we cannot arrange a suitable plan, we may go to court to get our money back.  You might have to pay additional court costs. If a shortfall debt is not paid, it could affect whether you are able to get credit in future.
Making a complaint
If you have a complaint about your mortgage please visit our complaint section for more details.
Other important issues

Some companies may offer you new loans or even invite you to sell your property to them and then lease it back as a way of resolving your financial difficulty. This is often known as a 'sale and rent-back' agreement.

Please be careful, as such actions may not be in your long-term best interests. We would always advise you to seek independent advice before entering into any arrangement of this type.

You may also be thinking about handing your keys over to us. If you do this, you will still owe us any outstanding debt, so we would advise you to contact us to discuss this option before taking such action.