Monitoring of Buy-to-Let mortgages
It appears that buy-to-let lending is on the increase with January approvals up 6 per cent on the previous month and up 12 per cent on the same period in 2014, these figures are not consistent with those for the overall mortgage market with both first time buyer and house mover mortgages having declined.
The recent increase in interest-only deals granted to landlords has alerted the interest of The Bank of England who have promised to monitor the situation.
Minutes from the March 24 meeting of the Bank’s Financial Policy Committee – the arm of the bank responsible for spotting risks to the economy – said members had ‘noted the increasing share of interest-only mortgages in buy-to-let mortgage lending and agreed to continue to monitor developments closely’.
Mortgage lending in general has been falling, with gross lending in January down 15.5 per year-on-year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders.