cherry: Brokers see increase in BTL purchase business

More than half of brokers have seen an increase in buy-to-let (BTL) purchase business in recent weeks, according to research by cherryplc.co.uk.

More than 30% have seen an increase in individual purchases and nearly 27% have seen an increase in limited company purchases.

57% of brokers said they had seen a rise in purchase business, compared to just under 12% who reported an increase in demand for capital raising on a remortgage.

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There has also been an increase in the number of clients with more specialist BTL requirements, with nearly 8% of brokers seeing a rise in demand for houses of multiple occupancy (HMOs) and almost 4% seeing more enquiries for lending on both multi-unit blocks of flats and holiday lets.

Short-term lending has also grown in popularity, with nearly 8% of brokers saying they are working with more clients on sourcing bridging for refurbishment products.

Donna Hopton, director at cherry, said: “The cherry forum is a great way to understand exactly what is going on at the coalface in the everyday lives of mortgage advisers, and it’s clear that there has been a spike in buy-to-let activity in recent weeks.

“Whereas the buy-to-let market has been dominated by remortgage business in recent years, it is purchase enquiries that are currently keeping brokers busy.

“The window of opportunity for reduced Stamp Duty Land Tax will certainly be helping to drive this demand, but we are seeing that the market is generally buoyant, which is a positive sign for advisers, and the economy.”

Jeff Knight, director of marketing at Foundation Home Loans, said: “Buy-to-let is proving again to be resilient and research has shown landlord confidence is actually higher now than in the last few years.

“This presents a great opportunity for landlords and it’s no surprise that many have seen this period of reduced Stamp Duty as an opportunity to grow their portfolios.”