Buy-to-let mortgage activity continued to slow in December with landlord investors taking out just 5,100 new buy-to-let home purchase mortgages, down 5.6% on the corresponding month in 2017, data from UK Finance shows.
According to the industry body, the total value of buy-to-let loans dropped by 12.5% to £700m, as fewer buy-to-let investors actively look to commit to investing in buy-to-let property following the stamp duty and income tax crackdown, resulting on a squeeze on many landlords’ profits.
In 2018, there were 66,400 new buy-to-let home purchases completed, some 11.5% less than in 2017. The £9bn of new lending in the year was 15% less than in 2017.
Simon Heawood, CEO and co-founder of Bricklane.com, said: “Landlords are feeling the effects of being in HMRC’s crosshairs as the government continues to target buy-to-let.