Buy-to-let affordability stretched as loan sizes fall

Buy-to-let affordability searches have risen by nearly a quarter in the last month as the average loan size offered by lenders has fallen, according to data from Mortgage Broker Tools.

Data from the broker research platform shows that the number of affordability searches for buy-to-let increased by 22% between September and October, while the average loan size offered by lenders decreased by nearly 24% between July and October.

Tanya Toumadj, CEO at Mortgage Broker Tools, said: “Affordability is a growing issue for buy-to-let borrowers, whether it’s for a new purchase or a remortgage, and rising rates have driven a 24% decline in the average loan size available to property investors. However, demand from landlords hasn’t disappeared and our data shows that, just as loan sizes have been falling, affordability searches have been increasing.

“There is huge appetite amongst buy-to-let investors for mortgage finance but finding the right deal has become much harder amidst the turbulent lending environment. This puts much greater emphasis on brokers having access to a research platform that can help them to quickly and easily identify the lenders that best suit the needs of their clients."