Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Newsroom from a report by Mortgage Solutions. Read the original article for full details.
BTL Purchase Mortgage Applications Drop as Landlords Seek Larger Loans
Buy-to-let (BTL) mortgage applications for property purchases fell by nearly a fifth year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, according to data from broker Commercial Trust. Despite the decline in purchase activity, the average loan requested by landlords increased over the same period.
Purchase mortgages accounted for 24.2% of all BTL applications submitted through Commercial Trust in Q2 2026, down from 29.8% in Q2 2025. This represents an 18.9% annual decline, which was more than double the relative fall recorded in the first quarter of 2026. At the same time, the average loan requested for a property purchase rose by 6.6% year-on-year, from £194,892 to £207,673. This figure was also 9.5% higher than the average loan requested in Q1 2026.
Regional Trends in BTL Investment
The data showed continued investor interest in Northern England. Yorkshire and the Humber accounted for 12.6% of purchase applications in Q2 2026, up from 3.4% a year earlier. The North East also saw its share rise from 1.7% to 8.4%. The North West remained the most popular region for purchase applications, representing 14.7% of the total, which was broadly unchanged from 15.1% a year ago. Other notable regions included the South East at 13.7%, Yorkshire and the Humber at 12.6%, and the West Midlands at 11.6%.
In contrast, the East of England’s share of purchase applications fell sharply from 16% to 2.1%. The East Midlands declined from 12.6% to 5.3%, and the South West dropped from 15.1% to 7.4%.
Remortgage Activity on the Rise
Across the first half of 2026, purchase mortgages made up 26.1% of Commercial Trust’s BTL applications, down from 29.2% in the first half of 2025. Meanwhile, remortgaging accounted for a larger proportion of applications, rising from 44.1% in Q2 2025 to 56% in Q2 2026.
These trends may be relevant for letting agents and inventory clerks monitoring shifts in landlord activity and regional investment patterns.
Source: Mortgage Solutions