November 2015 – The Council of Mortgage Lenders has published figures from banks and building societies that show the number of buy-to-let mortgages taken out by landlords to purchase properties rose in the summer to its highest level in seven years. Between July and September 33,600 new mortgages were taken out for property purchases.
Granting buy-to-let mortgages by building societies has had a serious adverse effect on the abilities of struggling first time buyers to get on to the property ladder and seriously undermines the purpose for which building societies were intended to serve.