"For brokers, that creates an opportunity to work with landlords ahead of upcoming maturities."
- Louisa Sedgwick - Paragon Bank
Four in ten landlords with buy-to-let mortgages plan to refinance in the next 12 months, according to new research conducted on behalf of Paragon Bank.
The survey of nearly 600 landlords by Pegasus Insight found that 26% have a mortgage on all of their rental properties, compared to 43% who own outright and 31% who have a mix of owned outright and mortgaged.
Of those with a mortgage, 38% intend to either remortgage or product transfer over the period, refinancing an average of 2.9 buy-to-let loans each.
Paragon says that the research highlights the opportunity for landlords with unencumbered properties to raise finance against them to fund upgrades or expansion, while those refinancing existing loans could consider releasing equity for improvements across their portfolios, subject to lending criteria and affordability.
Refinancing has been a significant feature of the buy-to-let market as five-year fixed-rate mortgages taken out in the pandemic-era property boom mature.
UK Finance data showed a record £18.2 billion was lent for buy-to-let house purchases in 2021, with a further £17.4 billion in 2022. Further industry data shows that £62 billion of outstanding fixed-rate buy-to-let mortgages are due to mature in the year to the end of August 2027.
"Remortgaging accounted for three quarters of buy-to-let business during the first half of 2026, and I would expect refinancing to remain a significant feature of the market given the record levels of new business during 2021 and 2022, when landlords took advantage of the Stamp Duty holiday," Louisa Sedgwick, managing director of mortgages at Paragon Bank.
"For brokers, that creates an opportunity to work with landlords ahead of upcoming maturities, looking across their portfolios at refinancing requirements as well as wider borrowing needs, such as releasing equity for property improvements or future investment.
"Upcoming maturities also give brokers an opportunity to look beyond the immediate refinance and consider a landlord’s wider portfolio funding requirements. That could include raising capital against unencumbered properties or releasing equity from existing investments to finance improvements or support further investment, subject to lending criteria and affordability.
"For landlords with several properties coming up for refinancing, there can also be benefits to reviewing multiple loans together. At Paragon, for example, we can consider several properties through a single application, which can make the process more straightforward for landlords and their brokers."
