Monthly (interest-only)
—
Buy to let pricing hides in the fees: BTL arrangement fees commonly run to percentages of the loan, and a low rate with a 3% fee frequently costs more over the fixed period than a higher fee-free rate. Enter the loan, rate, fee and deal period to see the total to pay — the only figure that compares BTL offers honestly.
Payments calculate on interest-only, the BTL convention, so the total is interest over the period plus the fees — with the cost per year and per £1,000 borrowed alongside for cross-deal comparison at different loan sizes.
Percentage fees scale with the loan: 3% on £300,000 is £9,000 — which over a two-year fix can dwarf the rate difference it bought. Lenders structure ranges deliberately across the fee-rate trade (high-fee/low-rate products flatter the ICR stress, which is sometimes their real purpose), so the rate column of any BTL sourcing run is close to meaningless alone.
The total-to-pay over the deal period — interest plus fees, per the calculator — is the comparison that survives the structuring.
High-fee/low-rate products earn their place where the ICR binds: the lower pay rate passes the rental stress test and unlocks a larger loan, with the fee as the price of the leverage. Where the ICR is comfortable, the fee-free or low-fee end of the range usually wins on total cost. The calculator prices the trade; the rental stress (our rental yield page's territory) decides which side of it your deal needs.
We run both calculations together on every BTL case — total cost and ICR headroom — because the right product is the one that optimises the pair.
Partly pricing structure (the fee-rate trade is steeper in BTL than residential) and partly ICR engineering — low pay rates pass rental stress tests and unlock leverage, with the fee as the price. The total-to-pay calculation is how you stop the structure flattering the wrong deal.
It preserves cash and costs interest on the fee for the loan’s life — a real trade the calculator can include. On interest-only BTL the added fee also never amortises away, which strengthens the pay-upfront case where cash allows.
BTL convention — investors typically run interest-only for cash flow and capital efficiency, with the balance repaid on sale or refinance. All our BTL comparisons calculate monthly payments on an interest-only basis unless you instruct otherwise.
They answer different questions: total cost picks the cheapest deal you qualify for; ICR headroom determines which deals you qualify for at the loan size you want. The right product optimises the pair, which is why we always run both together.