Buy to let borrowings reach new highs
23/08/2006 - Record lending keeps buy to lets at a record high
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Buy to let borrowing has reached new highs with a record amount of mortgages beening written. The number of loans shot up 17 per cent from the second half of 2005 to 152,500 with a collective value increasing by 20 per cent to £17.5 billion.
Currently there are £83.9 billion worth of buy to let mortgage loans in the UK, totaling 767,000. Unfortunately, more borrowers have fallen behind with their payments, 0.73 per cent up from 0.68 per cent over the previous six months. The lending criteria remains unchanged with the average maximum loan to value standing at around 85 per cent, rental income should still be around 125 per cent of the monthly repayments. The director general of the Council of Mortgage Lenders, Michael Coogan, said that he felt the rental market was solid and looked set to continue to offer good long term prospects for astute investors.
