Landlords with buy-to-let borrowing hold an average of 6.5 individual loans, typically spread across two lenders, as they manage increasingly complex borrowing arrangements.

Research from Pegasus Insight reveals that average total borrowing stands at £714,000, with landlords responsible for larger or more diverse portfolios particularly managing property finance through a multi-loan, multi-lender approach.

This requires a level of coordination and forward planning that simply wasn’t part of the model for many landlords historically, says Mark Long, managing director of Pegasus Insight.

“When financing is structured across several products, decisions in one part of the portfolio can have knock-on effects elsewhere, particularly around refinancing and cashflow timing,” Long adds.

Advanced

UK Finance reports that there were 59,489 new buy-to-let loans advanced in the UK in Q4 2025, worth £11.2 billion, up 18% on the same quarter in 2024, with growth largely concentrated in remortgage activity.  

The number of BTL fixed rate mortgages outstanding in Q4 2025 was 1.46 million - up 2% - while the number of variable rate loans outstanding fell by 9% to 466,000.

Average gross buy-to-let rental yield in Q4 2025 was 7.1%, compared with 6.9% in the same quarter in the previous year, according to the group. Meanwhile, Paragon’s Q1 2026 Buy-to-Let Yields report reveals that at a regional level, Wales and the North East were the top performing locations, generating yields of 8.7% and 8.1% respectively. The North West (7.8%), East Midlands (7.5%) and Yorkshire & the Humber (7.4%) made up the top five and Greater London generated the lowest gross rental yields at 5.7%.

Stable

Louisa Sedgwick, managing director of mortgages at Paragon Bank, says: “Where conditions are stable and returns remain viable, landlords continue to invest against a backdrop of sustained demand for rented homes and limited supply.”

UK Finance adds that instability in the mortgage market in recent weeks has pushed up borrowing costs, which could dampen the growth in BTL remortgaging. It expects a broadly flat picture for BTL purchase lending this year, compared to levels seen a year ago.

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