In this section: Your finances Choosing your property Compare Mortgages Apply for a Mortgage Being a landlord
Becoming a landlord
Becoming a landlord for the first time is an exciting opportunity, but one that should be carefully considered as you will have to invest time as well as money into it to keep things running smoothly and to ultimately make money from it.
The key to a successful investment is to carefully plan your finances and choose the right property, but what you do next is just as important. We’ve developed a guide to becoming (and being) a landlord to help you on your way, and hopefully make you feel more confident with the decisions you’ll be making.
Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
Work out your finances
Do the maths and plan for the future
There are a lot of costs to account for when setting up as a landlord so it’s vital to make sure everything adds up and you can afford it.
Once you’re up and running, the idea is that your tenants’ rent will cover your mortgage payments as well as other expected overheads, so you should make sure this will be the case before you commit to taking it on. These guides will help you budget for the upfront costs, as well as those that you’ll need to plan for on an ongoing basis.
Choosing your property and tenants
This section should help you with some of the big decisions
Once you’re comfortable you can afford an investment property, you should start and plan how you’re going to set it up. These guides cover the key areas you need to consider when looking for your property and tenants, and will hopefully help you spot a good opportunity.
There are some legal obligations you need to be aware of to ensure that all of the formal boxes are ticked. So make sure you know what these are and be sure to stay up to date with changes to regulations. You can join the National Landlords Association or a landlord accreditation scheme run by your local authority.
Find and compare mortgages
Time to find your mortgage
As soon as you’re ready, use our mortgage finder to see the great buy to let deals we’ve got on offer at Northern Rock, including how much they could cost you each month. You should also take a look at the key facts page for more information about how our buy to let mortgages work.
You might want to go away and have a good think about the options available to you, so don't forget to save them as you go, then you can return to them later (but remember, these are the deals you can get today and they could change at a later date).
Repayment calculator
Get a quote and apply
Finances sorted, confident with the process, time to make it official!
Once you've decided on the mortgage you want, the next step is to get a Decision in Principle (DIP), also referred to as a mortgage certificate. A DIP? will involve running a credit check? on you and will provide you with a decision, in principle, as to whether we will lend to you, and if so the amount. You can use it when making an offer on a property to prove you are able to buy it.
Once you've got your decision in principle you can go ahead and apply for your mortgage with us. This may be at the same time as getting your decision in principle, or it may be a little later depending on your circumstances. How you get your DIP and apply is entirely up to you, you can do it over the phone right now if you're ready, or if you'd prefer, you can pop into your local branch and see one of our mortgage specialists.
Ready to get your quote or apply?
Just call one of our mortgage specialists on:
0800 0285 277*
OR
Being a landlordYour property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
* We're all based in the UK and happy to help when you're ready (providing you call us between 8am - 8pm Monday to Friday, 10am – 3pm Saturday or 10am – 2pm Sunday, otherwise we're closed). Calls may be monitored and recorded.