One in seven mortgages is buy-to-let
More than one mortgage in seven is for a buy-to-let property, more than twice as many as was the case in 2001, new figures show.
Data from Paragon Mortgages shows that while in June 2001 buy-to-let mortgages made up just six per cent of the business done by mortgage advisers, this figure had risen to ten per cent in December 2004, and now buy-to-let makes up 14 per cent of all mortgage business.
"The proportion of advisers' business represented by buy-to-let is higher than it has been for many years," said John Heron, managing director of Paragon Mortgages.
"But buy-to-let continues to be busy, having followed a steadily upward trend over the past 18 months. Landlords know that long-term demographic trends continue to underpin the private rented sector and are adding to their portfolios based on unabated demand from tenants."
But while buy-to-let has boomed, first-time buyers are missing out.
Just one mortgage in eleven is sold to a first-time buyer, Paragon's data shows, 22 per cent fewer than six months ago and less than half the level of five years ago.
However, the last three months has seen a pick-up in mortgages to existing homeowners who are moving - from 23 to 25 per cent of the business done by mortgage advisers.
Remortgaging still makes up the majority of the business done by advisers, but has fallen from 54 per cent of total business in September 2005 to 51 per cent now.
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