According to a survey of buy-to-let (BTL) landlords carried out by Landbay, although more borrowers are interested in two-year and tracker options, the five-year fix is the most preferred.
Some 57% of landlord respondents said they would choose a five-year fix when it comes to remortgaging, however, this was a lower proportion than the 71% who said the same this time last year.
Landbay said in the last 12 months, landlords had shown more interest in two-year fixes, with 29% planning to choose this product. This was up from around 20% in 2024.
The lender said expectations around interest rates might be driving these trends, as demand for tracker mortgages rose from 3% last year to 8% this year. However, this was not as high as in 2023, when 14% of landlords showed interest in tracker mortgages.
The desire for longer-term fixes has remained static, with just 6% of landlords interested in seven- or 10-year products.
£2.5m paid to help broker clients benefit from greener homes
Sponsored by Halifax Intermediaries
Landbay found that of those planning to remortgage onto a five-year fix, 29% were portfolio landlords with between four and 10 properties. This was followed by 26% who had between 16 and 30 rental properties. Also, the majority of these properties were in London and the South East.
Rob Stanton, sales and distribution director at Landbay, said: “While the data has shown an increase in interest around tracker mortgages as some landlords look to ride the wave of potential interest rate cuts, the overwhelming majority continue to favour the stability and certainty of a fixed-rate mortgage.”
Stanton said this was a reminder of why it was important for lenders to provide a broad set of options for refinance.
He added: “While the conversation around mortgage maturity continues to centre around the residential market, we cannot overlook how much of a factor this is in the BTL sector too. While those with shorter term fixes may be set for some relief this year, we cannot forget those set to come off more favourable deals and a time of higher operating costs for landlords.
“Our product transfer (PT) offering is a great example of the innovation we are seeing in the market to provide options to landlords. It’s not just about giving them a safe landing, but the confidence to continue in the market or even to expand further – particularly with the addition of additional borrowing to our PT proposition.”
Earlier this month, Landbay restructured its BTL proposition to introduce three product categories.
