Landlords seek certainty as buy to let mortgage market shifts

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Landlords seek certainty as buy to let mortgage market shifts

Landlords are placing greater weight on certainty from lenders as rate movements, product withdrawals and shifting mortgage conditions continue to affect their buy to let decisions.

Landbay’s latest landlord survey found more than 80% of respondents now view the BTL market as unstable or unpredictable.

It found that 55.6% of landlords describe conditions as ‘somewhat unpredictable’ and 26.3% describing them as ‘highly volatile’.

The lender said the findings reflected disruption in March and April, particularly around rates and product availability, although landlords are still seeking funding and advice.

Landlords want BTL consistency

The lender’s sales and distribution director, Rob Stanton, said: “What comes through very clearly is landlords remain active and engaged with the market, but they are placing much greater value on certainty, consistency and communication from lenders and advisers.

“While rates remain incredibly important, landlords also want confidence that products will remain available, that cases will progress smoothly and they can rely on lenders to support them through periods of market volatility.”

He added: “It is also very telling that almost half of respondents have either completed or are currently progressing a mortgage despite the recent instability.

“Activity is still very much there, and advisers continue to play an incredibly important role in helping landlord borrowers navigate changing market conditions.”

Confidence accessing buy to let

Recent market conditions have already changed landlord behaviour for 35.3% who said they had reduced activity because of global events and rate movements.

Another 21.8% said they had delayed plans altogether.

Confidence has also taken a hit with 49.6%, said their confidence in accessing buy to let finance had worsened in recent months.

However, 45.1% said their confidence had remained unchanged, with Landbay saying landlords still appear to regard funding as available, even in a more unsettled market.

BTL availability is improving

Product choice remains a concern as 57.9%, describe current BTL product availability as ‘limited’, while 24.8% said it was ‘very limited’.

Landbay said availability had begun to improve in recent weeks, with lenders reintroducing products and pricing becoming more stable after the earlier spring disruption.

Landlord activity has continued despite the turbulence and almost half said they had either completed a BTL mortgage in the last month.

The survey found competitive pricing still matters most to landlords, with 66.2% naming rates as their key priority.

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