Investment mortgages under greater pressure
- Jan Halik
- 5 hours ago
- 2 min read
Finding an investment property today is no longer just about location or rental yield.
More and more, something else plays a key role – how strict the financing conditions set by the bank are.
And those are changing from April.
Based on a recommendation by the Czech National Bank, banks are starting to tighten conditions for investment mortgages.
The recommendation takes effect on April 1, 2026, and applies only to newly issued loans.
🏡 What counts as an “investment mortgage” today
According to the CNB, this includes situations where:
you are buying a third or additional property
you are purchasing a property for rental purposes
or the bank includes future rental income in your affordability assessment
📊 Key limits
Banks should now apply:
LTV max. 70%
👉 meaning at least 30% of your own funds
DTI max. 7
👉 total debt can be up to 7× your annual income
For comparison:
standard mortgages: up to 80% LTV
applicants under 36: up to 90% LTV
🧠 Why the CNB is doing this
The goal is not to stop investing.
The Czech National Bank is responding to:
the risk of overvalued property prices
rapid growth in mortgage lending
and the need to limit systemic risks in case of a market downturn
🏦 Banks are already adapting
For example, Česká spořitelna started applying stricter rules as early as February 2026.
According to the bank, investment mortgages are typically used when:
a client is purchasing another property
or relies on rental income
In these cases, they already apply the 70% LTV and DTI 7 limits.
Komerční banka also confirms it will follow the new recommendation.
One important shift:
👉 banks now focus more on the number of properties owned, not just the number of mortgages.
ČSOB expects:
👉 a slight cooling of demand, rather than any dramatic drop.
On the other hand, Moneta Money Bank has not yet applied specific rules and will begin tracking these mortgages from April.
📉 How many people are affected
This is not the majority of the market.
According to Česká spořitelna, investment mortgages account for roughly:
👉 9% of new loans
In total, banks provided mortgages worth:
👉 CZK 406 billion in 2025 (the second strongest year in the past 30 years)
🧠 What is really changing
At first glance, it’s just numbers.
In reality:
there is a stronger emphasis on own capital
banks are more cautious when counting rental income
and they pay more attention to how many properties you already own
This is especially important for active investors.
🏡 What it means in practice
This is not the end of investing.
But it does mean a shift:
more own funds required
stricter assessments
less room for leverage
📍 One-sentence summary
Investment properties aren’t going anywhere — they just won’t be as easy to finance as before.
If you’re looking for an investment property, feel free to reach out. I’ll be happy to help you find a solution that works.
Source: Článek ČT24 – zpřísnění hypoték
Jan Halík
Real Estate Agent
📞 +420 603 377 791
RE/MAX Atrium
Podolská 811/138
140 00 Praha 4 – Podolí
