Despite reports that the rental sector is in decline, latest data from UK Finance shows a 22.7% jump in the number of new Buy-to-Let mortgages advanced towards the end of last year, suggesting the market may be stabilising.
There were 59,467 new Buy-to-Let mortgages advanced to landlords in the UK between June and September last year, up 22.7% compared with the same period a year earlier, according to the trade body.
Most of these mortgages (40,697 of them) are remortgages, indicating that landlords are reviewing their finances and seeking more competitive mortgage deals. Mortgages taken out for new purchases were also up, increasing by 4% compared to the same period last year.
Landlords benefited from a particularly wide range of Buy-to-Let products in the third quarter of last year, with Moneyfacts reporting that 4,144 fixed and variable deals were available in June last year, the highest count on its electronic records, which began in 2011.
Most landlords prefer the security of fixed mortgage rates, with 1.44 million fixed rate deals outstanding in the third quarter of last year, up 2.3% on the same period in 2024.
Average Buy-to-Let mortgage rates ease
Buy-to-let mortgage rates, in line with the wider mortgage market, have eased in recent months, following six cuts in the Bank of England base rate since the summer of 2024.
The average rate across all new buy-to-let mortgages stood at 4.85% between June and September last year, UK Finance said, down 15 basis points from the previous three-month period, and 37 basis points lower than in the same three months of 2024.
Lower borrowing costs appear to be filtering through to improved returns for landlords. Rental yields rose to an average 7.15% in the three months to September 2025, compared with 6.93% in the same quarter the previous year.
