THE PROPERTY FILTER TAKE
Moneyfacts data reported by PropertyWire on 15 September 2026 put the average two-year buy-to-let rate at 5.36%, up from 4.88% in September 2025.
Run the numbers: on an illustrative £200,000 interest-only loan, that rise adds £80 a month, and a tougher stress test can cut the loan your rent supports.
If your bridging loan matures in the next 12 months, consider speaking to your broker about your buy-to-let exit well before the term ends.
Landlords who used bridging loans to buy, planning to refinance onto a buy-to-let mortgage, face a squeeze. Moneyfacts data reported by PropertyWire on 15 September 2026 put the average two-year BTL (buy-to-let) rate at 5.36%, up from 4.88% in September 2025. On an illustrative £200,000 interest-only loan, that rise adds £80 to your monthly payment.
How much have buy-to-let rates risen?
The same Moneyfacts figures put the average five-year BTL rate at 5.73%, up from 5.21% in September 2025 (PropertyWire, 15 September 2026). The Negotiator reported the same four figures. These are mid-September averages.
Run the numbers on that £200,000 interest-only loan, where you pay only the interest each month. At 4.88%, interest is £9,760 a year, or £813.33 a month. At 5.36%, it is £10,720 a year, or £893.33 a month. That is £80 a month more, or £960 a year. On a five-year fix, 5.21% costs £868.33 a month and 5.73% costs £955.00, a rise of £86.67.
Pricing has kept moving since. Clydesdale's BTL rates were due to rise by 0.38% from Wednesday 23 September, and HSBC announced BTL rises without saying by how much (Mortgage Solutions, 22 September 2026). As we covered in our report on Clydesdale and HSBC raising buy-to-let rates, 0.38 points adds £63.33 a month on the same illustrative loan.
The same Mortgage Solutions report put the average two-year fixed residential rate at 5.9%, its highest since 12 April, according to Moneyfacts. That is a residential figure, not a BTL one.
Why could a bridging exit fall short?
A bridging loan is short-term finance, used here to buy a property with a plan to refinance onto a BTL mortgage. That refinance is your exit. It depends on lender criteria, including the stress test (the lender's check that rent covers the mortgage interest at a set test rate).
Nouran Moustafa, practice principal and independent financial adviser at Roxton Wealth, gave Bridging Loan Directory an illustrative example (as reported by PropertyWire, 15 September 2026). On a property earning £24,000 a year in rent, a stress rate rising from 5.5% to 6% could cut the supported loan from about £349,000 to £320,000. That is a shortfall of around £29,000.
Work backwards and both figures imply rent covering the stressed interest about 1.25 times. That ratio is my own arithmetic, not stated in the example. At 5.5%, interest on £349,000 is £19,195 a year, and £24,000 divided by £19,195 is 1.25. You can test your own rent and loan with our free stress test calculator.
What are lenders and brokers saying about bridging exits?
Craig Fish, director of London-based broker Lodestone, said, as quoted by PropertyWire (15 September 2026), that "the buy-to-let exit people banked on simply isn't there anymore". He said investors who treated refinancing as a certainty are now struggling. And bridge extensions offer limited relief at significant cost, by his account.
Duncan Kreeger, founder of commercial mortgage lender and bridging specialist TAB, expects refinance exits to face closer scrutiny (PropertyWire, 15 September 2026). Higher BTL rates do not automatically block an exit, he said. But affordability, rental cover, property value and any borrower contribution all need to stay credible. TAB has restructured cases where a refinance no longer supported the original exit assumption.
PropertyWire highlights the risks for landlords who relied on bridging finance over the past 6 to 18 months. Fish advised those with bridges maturing this year to begin BTL conversations straight away, warning that extension fees could wipe out expected profits. Our guides on mortgages, bridging and lenders cover how to prepare for that broker conversation.
If you want to compare several scenarios side by side, our free property calculators let you rerun the monthly cost at different rates. You may wish to price your exit at the averages on the day you check, not the rate you assumed when you took the bridge.
Key takeaways
The average two-year buy-to-let rate stood at 5.36% in Moneyfacts data reported by PropertyWire on 15 September 2026, up from 4.88% in September 2025.
On an illustrative £200,000 interest-only loan, that rise adds £80 a month, or £960 a year.
In an illustrative example by Roxton Wealth's Nouran Moustafa, a stress rate rise from 5.5% to 6% could cut the loan supported by £24,000 of rent from about £349,000 to £320,000.
Clydesdale's buy-to-let rates were due to rise by 0.38% from 23 September 2026, according to Mortgage Solutions.
PropertyWire highlights the risks for landlords who relied on bridging finance over the past 6 to 18 months with a buy-to-let refinance as their exit.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average two-year buy-to-let mortgage rate?
Why are landlords on bridging loans at risk?
How much could a tougher stress test cut my loan?
Is extending a bridging loan an option?
