Buy-to-Let Lending

2023 Q4

Published on 02/04/2024

• The value of new buy-to-let lending for the UK in Q4 2023 was £6.3 billion, down 55.4 per cent compared with the same quarter in the previous year.
• The average gross buy-to-let rental yield for the UK in Q4 2023 was 6.74 per cent, compared with 5.85 per cent in the same quarter in 2022
• The average interest rate across all new buy-to-let loans in the UK rose to 5.7 per cent in Q4 2023, up from 3.67 per cent a year previously.
• As a result, the average buy-to-let interest cover ratio (ICR) for the UK in Q4 2023 fell to 180 per cent, compared with 238 per cent a year previously.
• The number of BTL fixed rate mortgages outstanding in Q4 2023 was 1.37 million, 1.7 per cent per cent up on a year previously. In contrast, the number of variable rate loans outstanding fell by 12.7 per cent to 0.62 million.
• At the end of Q4 2023 there were 13,570 buy-to-let mortgages in arrears greater than 2.5 per cent of the outstanding balance. This was 123.9 per cent higher than in the same quarter a year previously.
• There were 500 buy-to-let mortgage possessions taken in Q4 2023, up 56.3 per cent on the same quarter a year previously.