Buy-to-let lending growth matches FTBs and homemovers
The latest market analysis from Alexander Hall has revealed that buy-to-let mortgage lending has grown at an average quarterly rate of 7% over the last year, matching the pace of growth seen across both first-time buyer and home movers, as improving mortgage market conditions continue to support borrowing demand for rental properties.
Alexander Hall analysed historic market data from the Bank of England, examining quarterly gross mortgage advances by purpose of loan to understand how activity has evolved across each buyer segment as the wider mortgage landscape has stabilised.
The analysis shows that in Q3 of last year (latest available), £6.6bn was lent across the buy-to-let sector. While buy-to-let mortgages remain the smallest segment of the mortgage market, accounting for 8.2% of total lending, this represented a 22% increase on the previous quarter and a 26% increase when compared to Q3, 2024.
More notably, when looking at average quarterly growth over the last year, Alexander Hall found that buy-to-let lending has expanded at the same 7% quarterly rate as both first-time buyer and home mover lending. Only remortgaging activity recorded stronger growth, with an average quarterly increase of 12%, reflecting heightened refinancing activity as borrowers respond to improving rates and affordability.
The findings suggest that, despite regulatory change and ongoing headlines around landlord exits, borrowing demand within the buy-to-let sector remains resilient and closely aligned with the wider recovery seen across the mortgage market.
This is supported by recently released UK Finance data (Q3 2025) showing that the value of new buy-to-let lending has risen by 28% year on year, while the number of new buy-to-let loans issued has increased by 23% over the same period.
It also aligns with forecasts from the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA), released in December of last year,which expects lending activity across the mortgage market to continue growing through 2026 and 2027 as interest rates ease, affordability improves, and lending conditions become more supportive.
Richard Merrett, Managing Director of Alexander Hall, commented:
“While some amateur landlords may have chosen to exit the sector following a string of Government regulatory changes designed to dent portfolio profitability, the idea of a widespread landlord exodus simply isn’t reflected in the lending data.
In fact, our analysis shows that buy-to-let lending has been growing at the same pace as both first-time buyer and home mover activity over the last year, which underlines that investor appetites remain very much alive.
Of course, there have been some notable improvements to the mortgage landscape which will have helped to fuel the fire, with lower rates, greater product availability, and more favourable monthly repayments all helping to support landlord margins and reinforce buy-to-let’s position as one of the more stable long-term investment options available.
As confidence continues to return across the mortgage market, we expect this momentum to carry forward into 2026 as the buy-to-let sector continues to defy the narrative that landlords are calling time and looking to exit.”
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