Moneyfacts, a finance website, revealed that buy-to-let landlords continue to benefit from falling mortgage rates despite moves from the Bank of England to dampen the market.
According to the new data, landlords with buy-to-let mortgages are still gaining a benefit from the falling mortgage rates, and that despite policymakers keeping a close eye on this fast-growing sector.
The data collected by finance website Moneyfacts reports that the average rate on a two-year fixed rate buy-to-let mortgage dropped from 5.21% in 2011 to 3.2% now. Furthermore the rates on five-year fixed rates went down from 6.24% to 4% over the same time frame.
“Savings rates are currently so poor that many are looking elsewhere to fund their retirement, so lenders have tried to capitalise on this new pool of cash by offering some of the best rates the BTL sector has ever seen,” said Charlotte Nelson, finance expert at Moneyfacts.
Last month, the Bank of England stated that it was setting out a series of measures to fight off any risks to the financial system induced by the buy-to-let sector. Those measures included assessing the borrower’s costs connected with letting the property and the impact of future interest rate increases in affordability assessments.
The BoE announced those changes after data for January revealed the number of loans given to wannabe landlords went up by 22%. This drastic increase was said to be fuelled by the recent changes made to stamp duty, which came into force this month.
Source: The Guardian
