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THE number of landlords remortgaging fell to a 2½-year low during the third quarter of the year, research has showed.
Only 39% of buy-to-let investors who arranged a mortgage through a broker during the three months to the end of September were switching to a better deal, according to Paragon Mortgages.
The group said the low level of remortgaging activity was partly because low interest rates meant landlords were often better off staying on their lender's standard variable rate when their existing deal came to an end. But it added that many landlords were also likely to be unable to remortgage because of the low level of buy-to-let deals currently available and the large deposits or equity stakes being demanded by lenders.
There are currently just 251 buy-to-let mortgages, down from 3,648 in July 2007 before the credit crunch struck, while there are no deals available for people with less than a 20% deposit.
But the proportion of landlords taking out a mortgage to expand their portfolio reached its highest level since 2001. Around 48% of landlords who took out a mortgage during the period did so to buy a new property, well up on the 31% recorded during the final quarter of 2008.
Only 10% of buy-to-let mortgages arranged during the three months were taken out by first-time landlords, the joint lowest proportion on record.
The number of amateur landlords entering the market has been falling steadily during the past decade, coming down from 42% in the fourth quarter of 2001.
Tags: Remortgage, Remortgaging, Decrease, Low, Landlord...