Buy-to-let mortgage lenders show positive signs

Tuesday, 17 Nov 2009, 5:19pm
Buy-to-let mortgage lenders show positive signs

The number of available mortgages in the buy-to-let sector has grown in the last two months, prompting speculation about a much anticipated recovery.

Landlords looking for a buy-to-let loan are seeing more products being made available to them as mortgage lenders react to the recovery in the UK economy.

Research by Moneyfacts showed that the buy-to-let mortgage market was one of the worst-hit, with the number of loans on offer dropping from a peak of 3,662 in August 2007 to a low of 179 in September this year.

However, figures released yesterday (November 16th) showed that landlords now have access to 239 such products, although those looking for a high loan-to-value ratio will still be disappointed with mortgage lenders' ranges.

There are still no 90 per cent or 85 per cent loan-to-value buy-to-let mortgages on the market, despite the latter making up 52 per cent of total deals available before the recession.

Presently, only 1.4 per cent of all loans for landlords breach the 80 per cent loan-to-value ratio, with the majority demanding a deposit of 40 per cent.

Michelle Slade, spokesperson for Moneyfacts, said: "Numerous buy-to-let lenders have pulled out of the sector, while many of the remaining lenders restricting the number of deals on offer, making it harder than ever for landlords to find a competitive mortgage.

"The number of deals available is a long way off the peak seen in August 2007, although in the last few months the sector has seen positive signs with the number of deals available increasing."

Some £2.1 billion worth of property loan funding was made available to landlords in the third quarter of 2009, ten per cent higher than the previous three-month period, the Council of Mortgage Lenders recently found.

Written by Tobias Bluth
© Copyright

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