What kind of mortgages do they offer?

Leeds Building Society offers a range of residential mortgages, including fixed-rate, tracker, discounted rate and other types of variable rate deals. They also offer buy-to-let mortgages for various property types, from holiday lets to houses of multiple occupancy (HMOs).

Their mortgage range includes specific products for:

• Remortgaging
• First-time buyers
• Existing customers
• Right to Buy, Shared Ownership and First Homes scheme customers

What interest rates are currently available?

Leeds Building Society’s standard variable rate (SVR) is currently 8.6%. The rates on their mortgages are competative with other lenders on the high street but can vary depending on your loanto-value (LTV) ratio, the product type and the overall strength of your application.

Examples of the latest mortgage rates available at the time of writing (September 2024) include:

• Tracker Rate Mortgages: Links to the Bank of England base rate, which is currently 5%.
• Fixed Rate Mortgages: A 2 year fixed rate mortgage with an initial rate of 4.29% up to December 31, 2026, then changing to the SVR minus a 0.75% discount.
• Legal Assisted 2 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage: 5.23% fixed rate for 2 years, then a 0.75% discount on the SVR for 3 years, and then the SVR for the remaining term.
• Legal Assisted 5 Year Buy to Let Fixed Rate Mortgages: 4.23%, 8.54%, and 7.3%

Leeds Building Society also offers a Green Living Reward, which includes two- and three-year residential mortgages at 65%, 75%, and 85% LTV. A three-year fixed rate is available up to 65% LTV with a rate of 4.89%. This rate has no completion fee and is available for purchase or remortgage. 

Leeds Building Society’s lending criteria

The exact eligibility requirements you will need to meet will vary depending on the type of mortgage you are applying for, but you can find their general criteria below:

• Deposit requirements: The minimum amount of deposit Leeds Building Society will accept is 5-10% of the property’s value, under most circumstances.
• Credit history: Can lend to borrowers with some forms of bad credit, such as county court judgements (CCJs) and repossessions, on a case-by-case basis.
• Age: The maximum age you can be at application is 85, or 85 at the end of the term. Stricter age caps apply for Shared Ownership and interest-only mortgages.
• Self-employed borrowers: Will need at least two years’ accounts and affordability will be based on average earnings over that period.

How much will they let you borrow?

Leeds Building Society will cap your maximum borrowing at 4.5 times salary if you are a first-time buyer or the LTV exceeds 85%. They will use  the higher salary multiple of 4.75 times annual income for homemovers and remortgages where the LTV is less than 85%.

The maximum mortgage they can offer is up to £2 million.

You can enter you income into our calculator below to get a rough idea of what your maximum borrowing could be from lenders across the market:

Buy-to-let mortgage criteria

The criteria to get a buy-to-let mortgage from Leeds Building Society is as follows:

• Rental income: Basic rate taxpayers will need an interest cover ratio of 125%, higher rate taxpayers 145%, and additional rate 150%. They also use a standard stress test of 7%, although this percentage can vary depending on LTV.
• Deposit requirements: You will need at least 20% deposit to get approved, with some property types such as holiday lets needing at least 25%.
• Portfolio size: Portfolio landlords will only be approved by Leeds Building Society if they have no more than 10 buy-to-let properties on their books.
• Credit history: Will accept some types of bad credit, such as debt management plans, with conditions; but serious issues including recent debt relief orders or bankruptcies may trigger a rejection unless they were discharged over six years ago.
• Age: Leeds Building Society has no upper age limit for buy-to-let mortgage applicants either at application or at the end of the mortgage term.

You can compare buy-to-let mortgage rates and deals from Leeds Building Society with their competitors from across the market for free on Teito.

What kind of reviews has Leeds Building Society had?

Leeds Building Society has generally positive reviews from its mortgage customers, with a current average rating of 4.4/5 on TrustPilot and 3.6/5 on Smart Money People.

Pros and cons

The table below shows some of the advantages and disadvantages of Leeds Building Society as a mortgage lender at a glance, to give you an idea about whether they are the right choice for you:

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