Nearly four in 10 landlords are planning to remortgage in the next year, with the average number of loans to remortgage being 2.7 each.
Pegasus Insight, the property insight company, said larger portfolio landlords would be those driving the refinancing activity, with over half of those holding four or more mortgages set to refinance in the next 12 months, compared with less than a quarter of those with fewer than three mortgages.
Mark Long, founder and managing director of Pegasus Insight, said the findings show that, despite ongoing regulatory change such as the Renters’ Rights Act, together with wider economic pressures, landlords remain actively engaged with the mortgage market and continue to manage increasingly complex borrowing arrangements across multiple properties.
He said: “Landlords are not standing still – many are actively refinancing, restructuring borrowing and reviewing funding arrangements across multiple properties, creating continued demand for dedicated buy-to-let lending and expert advice.”
Stability underpins the sector
Long added that separate research also highlights that the sector is stable, despite discussion around the negative impact of new legislation. Pegasus Insight found that tenants have currently been in rented accommodation for an average of 8.2 years, including more than five years in their current property, on average.
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Two-thirds of tenants also said they intend to stay in their current rental property when their existing agreement ends, supporting consistent rental income streams for landlords.
Long continued: “What stands out is the stability underpinning the sector. Tenant demand remains resilient and tenancies are often long term in nature, helping to provide landlords with relatively predictable rental income over extended periods.
“That combination of sustained refinancing activity and stable occupancy continues to make the buy-to-let market an important area of opportunity for lenders and intermediaries alike.”
Larger landlords grow
The news follows last month’s insight from Pegasus Insight, which indicated that landlords with larger and more complex portfolios are thriving.
The typical buy-to-let (BTL) landlord has six-and-a-half mortgages, spread across two lenders with £714,000 of borrowing.
Long said this means that mortgage financing is an ongoing process.
He added: “That creates both opportunity and exposure for borrowers. When financing is structured across several products, decisions in one part of the portfolio can have knock-on effects elsewhere, particularly around refinancing and cash flow timing.
“It also reinforces the importance of professional mortgage advice. As portfolios become more layered, landlords need a clear view across their borrowing, rather than treating each mortgage in isolation.”