Paragon Bank’s latest financial adviser confidence tracking index revealed that intermediaries had a stable outlook with regards to BTL for the first time since 2015, when George Osborne announced plans to phase out tax relief on buy-to-let mortgages in the Summer Budget.
The index also showed the first increase in the proportion of landlords raising finance for portfolio expansion since 2015 – going up to 23% from 22% in Q1 2018 – as well as an increase in applications from first-time landlords, up to 14% of the total.
- Landlord remortgaging close to record levels
- Are fewer lenders offering support to portfolio landlords?
- 52% of UK landlords feel optimistic about BTL market
John Heron, managing director of mortgages at Paragon (pictured above), said: “It’s encouraging to see intermediaries forecast a more stable outlook for buy-to-let business after such a long period of negative sentiment.
“Purchase activity continues at much lower levels, but it is interesting to see the step up in remortgage business as landlords look to maximise certainty and minimise costs as the interest rate changes start to take effect.”
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