As the demand for rental accommodation among the young grows ever stronger, landlords are cashing in on the lucrative buy-to-let market, according to new research.
Some 11 per cent of all new lending was in buy-to-let mortgages over the course of 2006, reports the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). This represents an increase of 48 per cent in volume and 57 per cent in value on lending the previous year.
Furthermore, over the last six months of the year, buy-to-let lending reached an all time high of £21 billion since the survey began in 1998.
Commenting on the figures, CML director general Michael Coogan said: "The buy-to-let market has performed even more strongly than the wider market over the course of 2006.
"With evidence from other sources of strong tenant demand, rising rents and falling void periods, buy-to-let looks set to continue to remain popular and successful."
Since government regulations on landlords were relaxed in the mid-1990s, the buy-to-let sector has boomed, in a market where people are historically inclined to own their homes.
In 1998 just 28,000 buy-to-let mortgages were taken out, but now this has swelled to 850,000.
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