The buy-to-let mortgage market is a specialised one. In April 2014 the mortgage industry implemented the changes that came from the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Mortgage Market Review (MMR). The MMR changed the face of mortgage lending, forcing lenders to pay much more attention to affordability and expenditure rather than simply assessing gross rental income. Lenders view buy-to-let mortgages as higher risk than residential mortgages because they know that many landlords rely on rental income to make the mortgage repayments and if the property is vacant for a period there is no income. Because of this perceived risk, interest rates tend to be higher than residential mortgages. The lender will also demand a larger deposit. Typically in the current market you will struggle to borrow more than 75% of the property value and any lender will look for rental income that covers around 125% of the mortgage repayments. A lender will expect you to prove the rental income potential too.