Buy-to-let conveyancing on a Molo Finance mortgage
What differs on a purchase funded by a Molo Finance buy-to-let mortgage rather than a residential one.
- Topic
- Buy-to-let conveyancing
- Jurisdiction
- England & Wales
- Handbook
- UK Finance · Part 1 & 2
Part 2 of the UK Finance Mortgage Lenders' Handbook is amended by lenders without notice. Check the current version before relying on any requirement described here.
What buy-to-let conveyancing means here
Conveyancing on a property bought to be let rather than occupied. Lender requirements differ from residential lending, and Part 2 of the Handbook sets out what each lender expects on tenancies, licensing and permitted occupiers.
Two things decide how buy-to-let conveyancing goes: the general law, which is settled, and the lender's requirement, which is not, and which the lender can change between the offer and completion.
What has to be in place
Tenancies
The lender will have requirements about the form of tenancy, its length, and who may occupy. Existing tenancies on a purchase have to be reported and checked against those requirements.
Licensing
Selective and additional licensing schemes are set by individual local authorities. Whether one applies is a local question and needs checking for the specific property.
Leasehold restrictions
A lease may prohibit or restrict letting. That restriction binds regardless of the mortgage product.
Occupation by the borrower
Buy-to-let terms generally exclude occupation by the borrower or their family. Where that is contemplated, it needs to be raised before completion, not after.
Where a lender’s instructions to your solicitor come from
A conveyancer acting on a mortgage is acting for two clients at once, and the lender’s half of the instructions is a published document: the UK Finance Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook. It is the reason your solicitor asks for things that seem to have nothing to do with you.
Part 1
The same for every lender
- The general instructions that apply across the industry: what has to be investigated, what has to be reported, and what the certificate of title commits the firm to.
- Changes rarely, and changes are published.
Part 2
Molo Finance’s own answers
- Where the lender sets its own position: what it accepts on indemnity policies, on new-build warranties, on occupiers and on much else.
- Amended by the lender without notice, which is why nothing on this site reproduces it.
Check the current version before relying on any requirement described anywhere, including here.
This site says which Part 2 question holds a lender-specific answer rather than reprinting the answer. A stale copy of a requirement, on a page someone acts on, is worse than no copy.
What to confirm with Molo Finance rather than assume
Part 2 of the Handbook carries each lender's own requirements and its overrides of Part 1, and it is amended without notice. These are the points where the answer is Molo Finance's rather than general practice:
- The permitted tenancy types and any minimum or maximum term
- Whether the lender accepts an existing tenancy and on what evidence
- Any restriction on letting to a related party
We do not reproduce Part 2 here. It is lender-specific, it changes without notice, and a stale copy of it on a page a conveyancer relies on is worse than no copy at all. LM04 tracks those changes.
Acting on this lender’s instructions
Panel membership decides whether a firm can act at all. LenderPanel maintains the directory borrowers search when choosing a conveyancer, including for Molo Finance.