Buy-to-let landlords keep mortgage market afloat

The CML said increasing house prices, tenant demand, rent increases and landlords’ willingness to make long-term investment decisions had all underpinned strong demand from property investors. The figures, which cover a period before the problems at Northern Rock emerged, showed that compared with July the number of home loans was up 5% to 99,000, while the number of remortgages was down 5% to 88,000.

Mortgages for house purchases make up the lion’s share of lending, totaling 15.7bn over the month, compared with 10.5bn for remortgages and 7.8bn for other lending. The CML said it was so far unclear what impact the new home information pack , launched in August for four-bedroom homes and in September on three-bedroom homes, has had on activity levels in the market.

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