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46% of brokers see rising buy-to-let business
Nearly half of mortgage intermediaries reported an increase in buy-to-let business during Q1 2011, with 18% seeing a leap of more than 10%, research has shown.
Paragon Mortgages’ survey revealed 46% of intermediaries saw higher levels of buy-to-let business during the period compared with the previous quarter.
While 18% saw buy-to-let business rise by more than 10% during Q1, 13% recorded increased business levels of between 6% and 10%.
Meanwhile, 15% said buy-to-let business was up by 5%, whilst 45% said that business levels had remained unchanged during the first three months of the year.
The survey also showed that 53% of advisers has seen improving credit conditions in the buy-to-let market during the first quarter, with wider product availability and easing criteria levels.
In addition, 56% of intermediaries forecast that product availability will improve further during the second quarter of 2011.
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Paragon found that the average LTV for buy-to-let mortgages introduced by intermediaries was 65% in Q1.
John Heron, managing director of Paragon Mortgages, said: “These figures demonstrate intermediaries’ growing confidence in buy to let.
“Nearly half of intermediaries reported an increase in business levels during the quarter, with one in five increasing their buy-to-let business by more than 10%.”
He added: “Landlord demand is clearly strong and buy-to-let finance is becoming more readily available to meet that demand. Although we are obviously not operating at normal market levels, buy-to-let is on the road to recovery.”