BTL lending criteria clampdown

The recent rush on buy to let properties in order to beat the stamp duty hike, saw house prices in Britain’s biggest 20 cities rise at their fastest pace for 12 years.

In the first three month of 2016, Liverpool, Cardiff and Southampton saw the biggest quarterly rises as investors sought out cities where bargains could still be had, according to the latest Hometrack figures.

City property price inflation grew to a whopping 4.2%, the highest level since March 2004, with the average city pad reaching £235,800, according to the research.

The largest quarterly gains were in London and Liverpool, which rose by 4.1% between January and March, with Cardiff coming in second place with a 3.5% rise. Annually, properties in Cambridge showed the most significant increase, with a huge 15.6% hike.

With such significant increases in property prices, it is no great surprise that BTL mortgage lending for the first three months of 2016 totalled a whopping £62.1 billion, 39% higher that the same time in 2015. Investors looking to take advantage of the last minute deals on offer before April's stamp duty changes were responsible for 59% more mortgage lending in March 2016 than in March 2015 according to the Council for Mortgage Lenders.