April 2026: Our View Following The MPC Announcement
While the headline rate is unchanged, the wider picture is genuinely constructive. Over the past few weeks, we have seen some upward pressure on rates driven by global events, but lenders are keen to return pricing to the levels seen in early March, and appetite has held firm throughout. Across our prime private residential and BTL desks, pricing has remained fairly consistent over recent months, and lenders have become noticeably more competitive: for prime private residential cases at conservative LTVs, we are seeing margins as low as 0.6–0.7% over base. On the high street, fixed rates are softening across the board following the short-term shocks earlier in the year, and trackers remain a compelling option given their slim margins to base and the flexibility they offer while client circumstances settle. Buy-to-let pricing has converged with (and in some cases now sits alongside) mainstream residential pricing, which historically has not been the case. In commercial, the recent rate movement has tightened leverage on certain deals, but lenders are actively finding ways to support strong borrowers rather than retreating from cases.
Lender appetite is matching the pricing across every line. Affordability is easing on the high street, with more lenders extending greater loan amounts to a wider range of clients while keeping appropriate checks and balances in place, a positive development for purchase and upsizing momentum and for consumer confidence more broadly. In buy-to-let, lenders are innovating their products by enhancing criteria around property types and ownership structures including FICs and SPVs, and top-slicing remains a useful tool where rental margins are tighter than in the previous low-rate, high-yield environment. At the higher-value and more complex end, lenders are increasingly willing to look beyond pure real estate as security, accepting financial instruments, commodities and luxury assets where the case is well-presented. Where complexity emerges, lenders are generally adjusting pricing or collateral requirements rather than walking away from deals.
That makes now a good moment to revisit client plans rather than wait. When lending options are left unexplored this often leads to missed opportunities as part of wider financial planning strategies:
- A client with a large unrealised gain may sell an asset when borrowing could provide a more efficient route to liquidity.
- A client in pension drawdown may disturb a carefully managed income strategy.
- A property owner may dispose of an asset when leverage is the better answer.
- A borrower may accept constrained terms before the case has been properly positioned.
The cases that succeed are presented as a business proposal leading with the strengths of the client and the case, clearly demonstrating ability to service the debt, and setting out a defined repayment or exit strategy. Weaknesses are surfaced openly rather than glossed over, and where appropriate, we discuss additional security or sensible compromises with both client and lender. With that clarity and a clear understanding of the borrower’s wider position across income, assets, plans and protection needs, credit committees are far more willing to support facilities that might otherwise sit outside standard criteria, and clients often qualify for an improved lender terms they would not have reached on a narrower presentation of the case. Keeping pace with lender criteria as it evolves means we can place cases correctly first time, which leads to better client outcomes.
Structured borrowing and protection, in moments like this, are mechanisms that preserve optionality, manage timing, and support the strategy you are already helping the client deliver.
If you have a client with a need for liquidity, refinancing, structured borrowing or protection, contact our specialist team who will be happy to discuss it in more detail with you.