The Penrith Building Society has scrapped mortgage application fees for all buy to let and residential  products, including further advances, until March 31.

Tim Vigeon, head of products at the society, says: “At Penrith BS, we put the customer at the forefront of our product development and thinking.

“We understand the pressures customers are facing and this move demonstrates our ongoing commitment to supporting homeowners and landlords.”

Founded in 1977 the Penrith society is the smallest member of the Building Societies Association when measured by assets. In 2022 its assets were £126.73m.

The Penrith’s move follows a series of lenders slashing their buy to let mortgage rates in a bid to win business.

These include:

– LendInvest Mortgages has reduced its buy to let rates by up to 0.80 per cent. Along with specialist support for complex BTLs with up to £1.5m loans for large HMOs and Multi-Unit Freehold Blocks, the lenders says it aims to offer specialist support for portfolio and limited company landlords.

– CHL Mortgages has lowered fixed rates on its CHL 1 BTL product range by up to 0.65 per cent. The product, launched last November, is for customers (individual and company) with a clean credit history and consists of standard BTL and Small HMO/MUFB product types.

– Kensington Mortgages says all its residential and buy to let mortgages, including limited company products, will include a minimum £250 cashback until the end of January. In addition, Kensington is lowering selected residential rates by up to 0.75 per cent.

– Foundation Home Loans has launched a limited edition five-year fixed rate product. Available for both purchase and remortgage purposes, the BTL fixed rate comes with a headline rate of 5.64 per cent up to 75 per cent loan-to-value and a 1.50 per cent fee. This follows the December repricing of selected products across its BTL range with rate reductions of up to 0.20 per cent.

– Shawbrook has expanded its BTL offering with a new, limited edition five-year fixed rate product, available on loans from £150,000 to £25m, featuring a 0.50 per cent reduction on the standard five-year fixed product up to 75 per cent LTV, with rates starting from 6.09 per cent.