It found that 48% of landlords obtained a mortgage to increase their collection of properties, up from just 31% of landlords in the final quarter of 2008 and the largest proportion since the question was incorporated into Paragon’s financial adviser confidence tracker in 2001.
The hike in the share of those extending their portfolio is partly explained by buy-to-let remortgaging activity hitting a two-year low. Just 39% of landlords obtaining a buy-to-let mortgage through a broker did so for remortgage purposes in the third quarter of 2009.
The index also showed that the number of first-time landlords was at the lowest level on record, accounting for just 10% of the market, down from a high of 42% in the fourth quarter of 2001.
The positive news about landlords extending their portfolios comes hard on the heels of figures released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders which revealed that gross lending in the buy-to-let sector grew by 10% in Q3.
John Heron, managing director of Paragon Mortgages, said: “It is encouraging that landlords are now adding to their portfolios. We have not experienced the mass sell-off of buy-to-let property during the recession that some commentators were predicting, but buying activity has been subdued. As house prices have stabilised, landlords now obviously believe that it is a good time to start expanding before house price inflation picks up again.”
