Lenders are aware of the profitable and more stable mortgage lending found in the buy to let sector and have offered many more products to landlords and new landlords.  The increased choices in remortgages are making it easier for landlords to increase their portfolios.  The demand for rental property remains strong as households are kept from buying their own home due to the high level of deposits required to get a new purchase mortgage approval.

Investors are taking the step into the landlord business as well.  According to data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders there was a 32 per cent increase in buy to let mortgages from last year.  Buy to let lending reached £3.7 billion which was equal to 32,300 loans in the first three months of this year. 

The buy to let market accounted for 12.8 per cent of the overall market at the end of the first three months of 2012.  In a comparison to the final quarter of 2011 it was up over the share of 12.6 per cent.  In the first quarter of 2011 the buy to let mortgage lending accounted for 12.2 per cent of the overall market.

David Whittaker, managing director of national advisory firm Mortgages for Businesses, remarked, “Demand for rental property is as strong as ever as mortgage funds remain out of reach for many would-be buyers and high-street banks remove scores of owner-occupier mortgages from the market. While the overall value of lending fell quarter-on-quarter, this has more to do with stagnant and falling prices rather than a drop in landlord appetite.”