Simon Gammon, director at mortgage broker Knight Frank Finance, outlined that the low cost of debt, with mortgages at less than 2% on two-and five-year loans, was tempting homeowners to leverage their homes in a bid to profit from riskier investments.

In an article in the Financial Times Gammon said: “We’re a specialist lender at the top end but we’re seeing up to a dozen of these deals a month.”

“This is something that has come about because of the current environment of low rates.”

Mark Pattanshetti, mortgage manager at broker Largemortgageloans.com suggested this trend had risen by roughly 50% since 2009.

He said debt-free homeowners used to raise cash to reinvest in property and expand portfolios, but since the tax changes and with slowing house price rises investors were looking elsewhere.

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Brokers said borrowers were investing in everything from bonds and private equity to commercial property, Bitcoin and fine wines.