Landbay has become the first dedicated buy-to-let (BTL) lender to integrate automated valuation models (AVM) in order to speed up its offer times.

AVMs are available on a new standalone range of five-year fixed rate products, with a maximum property value of £750,000 at 70% LTV. Rates start at 4.29% and are stressed at payrate.

The range also includes a variable fee structure for increased affordability.

An AVM combines mathematical or statistical modelling with databases of existing properties and transactions to calculate property and rental values.

Through its pilot, Landbay has found that AVMs speed up the time to offer and is on average three times faster than a standard application. In some cases, the lender could issue an offer within 24 hours from the decision in principle.

Landbay has also found that using an AVM helps applicants save £500 on average as they do not have to pay valuation fees. In another example from its pilot, one client saved nearly £4,000 in valuation fees on their portfolio.

Sales and distribution director at Landbay, Rob Stanton, said: "There’s no question that in the current market, timing can make or break a deal. Brokers act with real urgency to support their landlord clients and there’s no reason why lenders shouldn’t be doing the same. We’re very proud to be the first dedicated BTL lender to integrate AVMs to enhance our offering and the speed of our service."

Head of product at Landbay, Joel Vinnicombe, added: "Our extensive pilot ahead of the whole of market launch generated tremendous results, giving us the confidence that our AVM provides significant benefits such as speed to offer and lower costs to borrowers. We’re looking forward to working with our broker partners to support their landlord clients nationwide."

---