Research: Buy-to-let lending continues to fall

Latest bank lending data highlights the lack of landlord interest  in taking out loans to either enter the buy-to-let market or to expand their portfolios.  

Quarter 1 data, recently published by the Bank of England actually showed a slight rise in the share of lending taken up by buy-to-let lending. This was 8.3% of new bank mortgage advances, up from 7.04% the previous quarter.  

Although the buy-to-let slice of the cake was sightly higher, the graph also shows the overall size of the cake continues to fall, with mortgage lending to individuals continuing its medium-term downward trend.  

Note these figures are at current prices and take no account of inflation, so the real value of mortgage lending is even further below, say, 2021 levels, than it appears from the graph.  

As reflected in the findings of our Landlord Confidence Index, although the proportion of landlords selling is now falling, there is no reciprocal rise in landlords thinking about expansion.  

Therefore this quarter's apparent rise in buy to let lending, should not be seen yet as any evidence of green shoots.