In recent months there has been an increasing awareness that the UK economy is now firmly in recovery mode and that confidence levels are returning within many regional property markets, particularly in the south of England and in specific regional locations where many property owners have above average levels of equity. As such many readers will be considering their property investment options and looking to expand their rental property portfolio or perhaps to acquire stock to renovate and then sell onwards as demand from owner occupiers increases.

However, the number of active buy to let lenders is nowhere near what is was back in the boom days, which ended in early 2008, and some lenders now impose quite strict limits in respect of the number of properties that they will lend on to a typical residential property investor. Some buy to let lenders will also only lend up to a maximum borrowing figure of £0.5-1.5m, irrespective of an investor's experience and portfolio size. As such many people have become quite frustrated with their lack of funding choices at a time when they can see genuine buying opportunities arising.    

So what are the alternatives for someone with good experience of 'landlordism' and who has created a residential investment (BTL) portfolio using normal finance routes with mainstream BTL lenders, but who now wants to do more deals or to look at more complex investments with added value renovation projects etc?

Using commercial finance is a tried and tested route for many experienced property investor-landlords as long as they can prove their business case to demonstrate their credentials to a lender.