Buy-to-let lending continues to thrive
October 12, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Mortgages
Buy-to-let mortgage lending is booming, in spite of widespread concern about the state of the market. 
With the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) warning that house prices are falling at their fastest rate for two years yesterday, many believe that the buy-to-let sector will contract.
However, new data published this week suggests that many investors continue to believe that buy-to-let remains a good deal.
New figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) showed that £7.8 billion was taken out in loans under their ‘other lending’ category in August – of which buy-to-let is a major component.
The sum makes up almost 25 per cent of the £34 billion borrowed that month, and is 37 per cent up on the figure for the previous month.
The CML said: “Total lending has been buoyed by a strong buy-to-let market.
“[Other lending] covers buy-to-let which has continued to be underpinned by house price increases, tenant demand, rent increases and landlords’ willingness to take long-term investment decisions.”
In the same period, the CML’s figure showed that borrowing for new purchases fell by 11 per cent on the previous month, while remortgaging borrowing fell by 12 per cent.
