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HTG Mortgages

HTG Mortgages

Buy to Let Mortgage Broker in Southampton

Last Updated: August 2026

Featured in The Telegraph • Daily Mail • The Times • Sky News

Southampton is the biggest buy to let purchase market in Hampshire. UK Finance counted 340 new buy to let purchase loans in the city in 2025, worth £64.37m, which is more than five times the number written in Winchester. It is also one of only two local authorities in this area where the rent on an average property covers a higher rate taxpayer at the stress test lenders actually apply. I am a Winchester based broker and buy to let is most of my work.

340 new buy to let purchase loans written in Southampton in 2025, worth £64.37m (UK Finance)

29.2% of Southampton households rent privately, up from 24.9% in 2011 (ONS Census 2021)

One of only two local authorities in the area where an average property clears the 145% rental cover test in personal name

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As featured in…

Harry Goodliffe, director and FCA-authorised mortgage advisor at HTG Mortgages, at his desk

Meet your Advisor

Harry Goodliffe

  • FCA Authorised
  • Director & Mortgage Advisor

“I‘m not about confusing jargon or passing you from person to person. From our first chat to the day you get the keys, you’ll deal directly with me. I‘ll keep you updated, answer any burning questions, and do everything I can to make the whole process as stress-free as possible.”

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How a Southampton buy to let case runs

1

Step 1

First Chat

We talk about the property, the rent it achieves or should achieve, and how you want to hold it. Nothing is charged for this.

2

Step 2

Research

I compare options across more than 120 lenders, including limited company and SPV, and run the rental cover test properly so you know before you offer whether the numbers work.

3

Step 3

Application

I submit the application and deal with the lender, the valuer and your solicitor.

4

Step 4

Completion

Your mortgage offer is issued and my flat £350 fee becomes payable. If no offer is issued, there is no fee.

About

Our approach.

What the numbers say about Southampton

Here is the part most Southampton buy to let pages leave out. Using HM Land Registry and ONS UK House Price Index data for May 2026 and ONS Price Index of Private Rents data for June 2026, I ran the rental cover test across all 16 local authorities in the area I cover. At 75% loan to value and a 5.5% stress rate, on a higher rate taxpayer in their own name at 145% rental cover, only two of those 16 areas pass on an average property. Southampton is one of them, clearing by roughly £78 a month. Portsmouth is the other and clears by roughly £109. Move the same test into a limited company at 125% cover and four of the 16 pass. Drop to 60% loan to value in a company and nine of the 16 pass. These are averages for the local authority, not a valuation of any particular property, and every lender uses its own surveyor’s rent assessment, its own cover ratio and its own stress rate.

Rate Ending Soon

It clears by roughly £78 a month, a narrower margin than Portsmouth, so the deposit and the ownership structure matter here

Rental Cover Shortfalls

Whole-of-market comparison across 120+ lenders, including limited company and SPV cases

Releasing Equity

A flat £350 fee, payable only once your mortgage offer is issued

Limited Company & Portfolio

I do not take HMO cases, including student HMOs

Speak to an expert

Thinking about a Southampton buy to let and want to know if the numbers stack up before you offer? Call me on 01425 203055 or email info@htgmortgages.com.

Get in touch

How I help Southampton landlords

Southampton is a renting city. ONS Census 2021 recorded 29.2% of Southampton households in the private rented sector, up from 24.9% in 2011, with home ownership at 47.7%, below half. That is the structural reason the lending volume is here. What it means in practice is that the £78 a month of headroom above is thin. A property letting slightly below the local average, or a rate move, can flip an average Southampton case from pass to fail, which is exactly where the limited company route and the deposit size start to matter. I am independent and whole of market across more than 120 lenders, I charge a flat £350 payable only on mortgage offer, and you deal with me from the first call through to completion.

Who I work with in Southampton

I work with first time landlords buying their first Southampton rental, landlords buying through a limited company or SPV, portfolio landlords with four or more mortgaged properties, people remortgaging a Southampton buy to let as a fixed rate ends, and accidental landlords who never planned to let a property and now need a mortgage that fits. I do not take HMO cases, including student HMOs, and I do not offer equity release.

Why use HTG’s mortgage services?

Available 24/7, so we are always there to help when you need us

We are an independently owned, whole-of-market mortgage broker offering first-charge mortgages

We provide unrivalled customer service, ensuring that you get the care you deserve

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Frequently Asked Questions

Have another question?

On the figures above, better than almost anywhere else in the area. At 75% loan to value and a 5.5% stress rate, an average Southampton property is one of only two in the 16 local authorities I cover where the rent clears a higher rate taxpayer at 145% cover in their own name. The margin is about £78 a month, so it works, but it is not generous. Whether it works on the specific property you are looking at depends on that property’s rent and the lender’s own assessment, which is what an advice appointment is for.

There is no single figure. Buy to let lenders generally want a larger deposit than a residential purchase, and how much you actually need is driven by the rental cover test rather than by a headline percentage. If the rent comfortably covers the stress test you may be able to borrow more; if it does not, a bigger deposit is one of the two levers that fixes it. The other is the ownership structure. On my own figures, nine of the 16 areas I cover pass at 60% loan to value in a limited company against four at 75%.

Lenders do not simply lend a multiple of the rent. They stress-test whether the rent would still cover the mortgage interest at a rate higher than the one you are paying, and they require the rent to exceed that stressed payment by a set margin, usually 125% or 145% depending on your tax position and the ownership structure. It matters in Southampton because average rents and average prices sit close enough together that the test is passed, but not by much. Read more on the buy to let hub.

It depends on your tax position, how many properties you intend to hold, and what you plan to do with the income, and it is a question with a tax answer as well as a mortgage answer, so your accountant should be part of it. What I can tell you is the mortgage side. A limited company is normally assessed at 125% rental cover rather than 145%, which is why more areas pass the test that way. Company rates and fees are usually higher, so the cheaper test does not automatically mean the cheaper mortgage. See limited company buy to let.

Portsmouth has the higher gross yield of the two, at 6.50% on the May and June 2026 data, and clears the 145% cover test by roughly £109 a month against Southampton’s £78. Southampton is the larger market by lending volume, 340 purchase loans in 2025 against Portsmouth’s 282. In practice plenty of landlords look at both. See buy to let in Portsmouth.

No. I do not arrange HMO mortgages, and that includes student houses in multiple occupation, which are a large part of the Southampton market. If that is what you are buying you need a broker who specialises in it, and I would rather tell you that now than waste your time. Single lets, including student single lets on one tenancy, are fine.

Yes, and it is a large part of what I do. If your fixed rate ends in the next six months it is worth looking now, because most lenders let you secure the next rate three to six months ahead. Start with the buy to let hub.

A flat £350, payable only once your mortgage offer is issued. The same fee whether the loan is £120,000 or £400,000, and the same whether the property is in your own name or a company. If no offer is issued there is no fee. Here is how a flat fee compares with percentage broker fees.


Harry Goodliffe
Written by Harry Goodliffe
Director & Mortgage Adviser, HTG Mortgages  ·  FCA Authorised (1017945)
CeMAP Qualified  ·  Featured in National Press  ·  South England Prestige Awards 2026/27 winner

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