Twelve properties and a spreadsheet from 2023
A landlord with a dozen properties wants to remortgage two of them and buy a third. The broker asks for a property schedule. The landlord sends the spreadsheet they made for their last remortgage, two years out of date. Rents have changed. One property was sold. Another was remortgaged with a different lender. The value column is a guess.
The broker goes back and forth with the landlord to update it, then reformats it for the lender's own schedule template, which asks for columns in a different order and a few extra details. Next year, for the next case, the same thing happens again.
Why schedules are rebuilt every time
Landlords keep their records in their own way: a spreadsheet, their accountant's figures, their letting agent's statements, or their memory. Brokers receive whatever the landlord has, then turn it into what the lender wants. There is rarely a single, current version held by the brokerage and updated between cases.
Lenders ask for schedules in different layouts, with different fields, and some want supporting information such as rental figures or tenancy details. Each case becomes a formatting job on top of the fact finding.
- Landlords' own spreadsheets, laid out in their own way.
- Schedules out of date by the time a new case starts.
- Each lender wants a different layout and different fields.
- Properties in personal names and limited companies mixed together.
- Gaps, such as missing rents or balances, found late.
Limited company landlords add a layer. The broker may need company details, directors and shareholders, and a split of which properties sit in which company. Landlords who hold some properties personally and some in companies often mix them on one sheet, and untangling it is left to the broker.
What rebuilding costs
| Problem | Effect |
|---|---|
| Out of date schedule | Figures that do not match the lender's checks |
| Missing balances or lenders | Underwriter queries |
| Reformatting for each lender | Broker time on every case |
| Ownership unclear | Properties in the wrong entity on the schedule |
Portfolio landlords are often a brokerage's most valuable repeat clients. A process that makes every case feel like starting again is a reason for them to try someone else.
The landlord schedule we build
- Each landlord client has one property schedule in your system, holding every property, its ownership, value, lender, balance, rate end date, rent and tenancy type.
- The landlord receives a secure link to review and update the schedule, with everything you already hold pre-filled, so they only change what has changed.
- Checks flag gaps and oddities: missing balances, rents that look out of date, a rate end date that has passed, a property with no lender.
- Properties can be tagged by owning entity, such as personal name or a named limited company.
- When a case starts, the schedule is exported in the layout the chosen lender asks for, from templates your team maintains.
- Rate end dates across the portfolio feed into your retention reminders, so each property's expiry is seen in good time.
The schedule holds the landlord's information. Assessing rental cover, stress rates or lender criteria remains the broker's job.
What landlords and brokers notice
Landlords update a list rather than rebuild one. Brokers start each case with a current schedule and export it in the lender's format in minutes. Gaps show up at the start rather than at underwriting. And the portfolio's rate end dates are all visible, which turns one case into a planned relationship rather than a series of emergencies.
The relationship changes too. Instead of the landlord calling when something is urgent, the broker can see the whole portfolio and raise upcoming rate ends or gaps early, which is the kind of service that keeps a portfolio landlord with one brokerage.
Is this your buy to let workload?
- Portfolio landlords send their own spreadsheets for each case.
- Schedules are out of date when they arrive.
- You reformat schedules for each lender.
- Rate end dates across a landlord's portfolio are not tracked.
- Underwriters ask about balances and rents you thought were covered.