Mortgage firms see growth in buy-to-let business
The first three months of the year saw something of a boost in the buy-to-let sector, with mortgage lending for landlords on the rise.
According to figures from Paragon Mortgages, almost half of intermediaries reported an increase in buy-to-let business during the quarter.
Almost one in five of those questioned saw their landlord mortgage activity rise by more than ten per cent.
Paragon cited figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, which showed that buy-to-let was one of the only areas of the UK mortgage market to see any growth last year.
It also pointed to recent research by Datamonitor, which suggested that buy-to-let will be the only sector to experience "significant growth" in 2011.
"These figures demonstrate intermediaries' growing confidence in buy-to-let," said John Heron, the lender's managing director.
"Landlord demand is clearly strong and buy-to-let finance is becoming more readily available to meet that demand."
Paragon's research also revealed that the average loan-to-value of a buy-to-let mortgage is now 65 per cent.
"Although we are obviously not operating at normal market levels, buy-to-let is on the road to recovery," Mr Heron added.
The publication of the research comes after specialist broker Mortgages for Business revealed that the number of mortgages for buy-to-let properties in the UK has doubled in the last year.
In the first quarter of this year there were around 298 products for landlords on the market, compared to 142 during the same period in 2010.
The return of four buy-to-let mortgage lenders to the market is said to have been partly responsible for the increase.
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