Buy-to-lets still strong:

Average buy-to-let loans and deposits increased in 2016, new research has revealed.

This came as a result of soaring property prices and the tougher stance taken by lenders on criteria and rental calculations.

The findings reveal that landlords borrowed an average of £15,000 more to buy property in 2016, in comparison to 2015. The average loan rose in 2016 to £185,188, up from £170,268 a year before.

Meanwhile, the average loan to value fell from 61.6% in 2015 to 59.7% in 2016, while the average deposit climbed by 18% to stand at £125,016 in 2016. What’s more, landlords and investors paid out more for their properties year on year – 12.7% more, in fact. The average property price in the South of the country last year was £310,265, up from £275,286 in 2015.

Gross buy-to-let lending in November was at its highest monthly level since the additional stamp duty surcharge on second homes was implemented last April last year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

Landlords are certainly feeling the pinch right now, but the raft of tax changes that came into force in 2016 do not appear to have dampened the buy-to-let market currently. In many towns and cities, landlords have increased their investment in buy-to-let property, despite the financial challenges that have been recently thrown at them by the Government.