These figures are shown in the latest quarterly Survey of Lending Trends issued by the ARLA Panel of buy to let mortgage lenders.
Fixed-rate loans accounted for 19.1% of all buy to let lending by the ARLA Panel, against 27.8% in the previous quarter. Discount rates fell to 16.6% from 23.5% in the final quarter of last year. The average number of loans each month during the quarter to 31st March rose by 4.9%, from 1,142 to 1,198. The amount borrowed rose by only 1.2% from £94.4 million a month to £95.5 million.
ARLA, (the Association of Residential Letting Agents), believes that these figures emphasise that the buy to let sector is a stable, sophisticated market and that this augurs well for much needed continued investment in the private rented sector. “Buy to let is the only regular source of new investment in the residential rental market and this is needed to provide real choice in housing for many sectors of the economy,” commented John Crossley, Chairman of ARLA, announcing the latest figures.
The survey follows the lending trends experienced by the ARLA Panel of lenders. They include Birmingham Midshires, GMAC Residential Funding, NatWest Mortgage Services, Paragon Mortgages, Standard Life Bank and The Mortgage Business. Four of these lenders participated in the survey.
