Black & White Bridging comment on UK Finance Buy-to-let mortgage lending data
22 October 2025
Heather Hancock, head of credit & operations at Black & White Bridging, commented:
“Prospective landlords can’t just walk into an estate agent and buy a rental property in the same way they could previously. The field has changed. There’s still money to be made in the rental market, but it won’t fall into your lap anymore. Landlords are having to work harder.
“A drop in the value of new buy-to-let lending and the number of buy to let loans, highlights that we are seeing landlords exiting the market, as backed by our own recent survey data. But we believe these are accidental and amateur landlords, leaving the industry with a more professional cohort. Growth in the value of new BTL lending to SMEs, up 11.7 per cent YoY, supports this and highlights just how many landlords have set up limited companies in recent years due to the tax advantages.
“These landlords are more likely to look to refurbishment or conversion projects to broaden their portfolios, which is driving demand for specialist finance ahead of buy-to-let loans. We aren’t saying there aren’t good yields to be had, but to make waves in the current climate landlords need to take advantage of lending options, like bridging, that they wouldn’t have needed previously.”