The vast majority of buy to let mortgages are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) because they are considered to be a business transaction and are therefore not eligible for the FCA’s consumer regulations, which aim to protect the general public.

Irrespective of the size or stature of the lender (be it any of the high-street lenders regulated by the FCA and/or PRA: HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds, etc), buy to let being purchased for an unrelated tenant would be a ‘non-regulated’ product, even though they are regulated lenders.

Most applicants for buy to let mortgages are landlords who are looking to refinance a buy to let or expand their investment property portfolio. Therefore the mortgage is classed as a business transaction and is not liable for the additional restrictions, eligibility assessments or consumer protection that the FCA’s regulations dictate.