The number of buy-to-let mortgage approvals has shrunk for the first time in nearly 30 years as landlords avoid new investment, data from a major banking body highlights.
Figures from UK Finance show the number of mortgages to landlords fell for the first time since 1996, which was when the loans were introduced, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Mortgages on buy-to-let properties dropped from just over two million in the first quarter of 2023 to 1.98 million this year.
Mortgage dip
This is the first time that total property investment loans for landlords have fallen from one year to the next.
Investors taking out buy-to-let loans dropped 18% to 12,422, which is less than half the number in the final quarter 2022.
James Tatch, Principal of Analytics at UK Finance, said Labour’s reforms of the renters market risked pushing more landlords away.
A new Renters’ Rights Bill was announced in the King’s speech last week, with a ban on Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions.
A flexible and well-run private rental sector is an essential part of the housing market.”
“A flexible and well-run private rental sector is an essential part of the housing market,” he says. “Landlords face a number of challenges, from changing regulations to rising mortgage interest rates, but have shown resilience,” he said.
“However, given the new Government is committed to abolishing Section 21 ‘no fault’ eviction notices, it must make sure that responsible landlords have other options for when they have legitimate reasons to take their property back.”
