It has revealed that 55 per cent of mortgage brokers expect there to be a drop in the number of buy-to-let purchases this year. If this proves correct 2005 will be the first year for eight years in which the number of buy-to-let mortgages has fallen.
The research, undertaken by 1,334 mortgage intermediaries, indicates that 39 per cent of brokers have seen an increase in the number of buy-to-let mortgage applications over the past four months while 38 per cent have seen a decrease.
Keith Astill, managing director at UCB Home Loans, said: “Opinions among brokers over whether buy-to-let mortgage applications have been rising or falling over the past four months are pretty evenly split.
“But predictions for the year, as a whole, are that the massive influx of new investors into this sector has now passed its peak.”
The research coincides with the publication of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) lettings survey which says that the buy-to-let market has come to a standstill as a result of rising interest rates.
Mark Fenton, director at Fenton Simpson Financial Services, said: “It’s complete guesswork to make a prediction like that. The buy-to-let market is steady anyway; it depends on numerous economic factors and interest rates will have a huge bearing.”
Roger Hillier, product development manager at Mortgage Express, said: “I expect that there may be a small drop in the purchase market but the remortgage market, through professional landlords, is still a strong sector.
“The figures are no great surprise – buy-to-let has far exceeded expectations over the last eight years; it had to reach somewhat of a plateau sometime.”
