Buy-to-Let Lending

2026 Q1

Published on 15/07/2026

• In Q1 2026 there were 58,272 new buy-to-let loans advanced in the UK, worth £10.8 billion. This was up 3.26 per cent by number compared with the same quarter in the previous year, 7.02 per cent by value.
• The average gross buy-to-let rental yield for the UK in Q1 2026 was 7.21 per cent, compared with 6.93 per cent in the same quarter a year previously.
• The number of BTL fixed rate mortgages outstanding in Q1 2026 was 1.47 million, 1.4 per cent up on a year previously. In contrast, the number of variable rate loans outstanding fell by a further 9.5 per cent to 453,000.
• The average interest rate across all new buy-to-let loans in the UK was 4.71 per cent in Q1 2026. This was 6 basis points lower than in the previous quarter, and 29 basis points lower than in the same quarter of 2025.
• Reflecting the downwards movement in interest rates, the average buy-to-let interest cover ratio (ICR) for the UK in Q1 2026 was 221 per cent, up from 204 per cent in Q1 2025 and 218 in the previous quarter.
• At the end of Q1 2026 there were 8,960 buy-to-let mortgages in arrears greater than 2.5 per cent of the outstanding balance. This was down 560 from the previous quarter.
• There were 810 buy-to-let mortgage possessions taken in Q1 2026, unchanged from the same quarter a year previously.