22/09/2009 - Buy-to-let market still suffering
Nine out of ten landlords have found it more difficult to get a mortgage in the last three months than they did earlier in the year, research has found.
Paragon Mortgages says only 3% of buy-to-let investors found it easier to secure funding for a property, while 8% said they had noticed no change.
The market has been hit hard by the credit crunch, with the number of different mortgages available on such properties diving by 94% since August 2007 - when the credit crunch first struck - to just 196.
But while there are signs that conditions may be improving in the wider mortgage market, the availability of buy-to-let mortgages has continued to fall, dropping from 218 in May.
John Heron, Paragon Mortgages' managing director, said: "Product availability in the general mortgage market has improved slightly in recent months, but has worsened for the buy-to-let market.
"Mainstream lenders are reducing their focus on this sector and specialist lenders are still unable to access the wholesale funding markets to enable them to offer new products."
Copyright © Press Association 2009
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