Buy to Let Investments Slow

17 Aug 2005

The number of buy-to-let property purchases has fallen to its lowest point in two years according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

The CML report that 93,400 buy-to-let mortgages were advanced in the first six months of 2005 compared to 97,800 in the second quarter of 2004 and is 22% below the peak of 119,900 recorded in the first six months of last year.

Properties that have been purchased purely to rent out for investment purposes have grown to 7% of all residential holdings, and there are nearly 10 times as many buy-to-let mortgages outstanding compared to six years ago.

In accordance with the residential mortgage market, buy-to-let mortgages have suffered repayment problems, and 0.7% of buy-to-let loans are at least three months in arrears, up from 0.66% in the previous half year, and double the figure recorded for the first six months of 2004.

Finance News