Mortgage pain for landlords

Around 28 per cent of landlords plan to buy more properties to rent out during the coming year, rising to 40 per cent among investors who already own five or more properties, according to LSL Property Services.

Just under half of landlords think now is a good time to invest in property, mainly due to rising tenant demand.

But nearly two-thirds of investors thought it was now harder to get a mortgage than it had been three years ago, with 28 per cent saying it was much more difficult.

Only 11 per cent of smaller landlords had successfully obtained a mortgage during the past year, rising to 23 per cent among larger investors, who typically have more equity in their portfolios.

Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show that only 93,500 buy-to-let mortgages were advanced during 2009, a quarter of the number seen in 2007.

David Brown, commercial director of LSL Property Services,

said: "Undeniably, the difficulty in obtaining mortgage finance is holding back investment in the private rental sector.

"Over 90 per cent of buy-to-let products have vanished from the market."