Lending Soars

Lending to landlords seems to be one of the few lending bright spots in the economy as credit remains tight.

Just released figures show that buy-to-let lending rocketed by 16% in the quarter to September with the number of loans rising from 29,700 in the second quarter to 34,500.

The overall amount of lending also continues to grow. Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) showed that there were 1.3m loans at the end of September worth £157 bn compared to only 1.2m a year before.

Paul Smee, director general of the CML, said: “With tenant demand remaining strong in the rental sector, some existing BTL landlords have been expanding their portfolios and the growth that returned to the sector in the preceding quarter has continued. The recovery of BTL from its low point in 2009 has helped improve supply and choice in the rental market. Despite recent improvements, however, BTL lending volumes are still only around one-third of their former peaks.”

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