The buy to let market has been popular to investors that view the frozen property ladder as an opportunity to become a successful landlord.  Demand for rental properties has grown with the inability of hopeful home buyers to obtain mortgages.  While the housing market is expected to get a slight boost from new government schemes put into place it is not expected to make much of a dent in relieving the high demand for rental properties.

Remortgaging by landlords has been on the rise with low interest rates available.  According to the latest data from Mortgages for Business, remortgaging by landlords increased during the first three months of the year.  Of overall residential buy to let transactions, remortgages accounted for 69% of the total.  In a comparison of the first quarter buy to let remortgaging for 2013 against the first quarter of 2012 there was a 43% increase.

David Whittaker, managing director of the mortgage broker, said “Gross yields are strong at the moment and that has sparked a real splurge of refinancing as landlords try to unlock enough capital to expand their portfolios and make hay while yields are high.  With so much refinancing going on at the moment, we might well see a purple patch of purchasing activity later on in 2013.”

The report revealed that there are now 434 buy to let mortgages available from lenders to landlords.  The number of buy to let remortgages on the market has declined but interest rates remain low offering landlords the opportunity to build their portfolios.