Despite a sharp pullback in overall mortgage activity during April, the buy-to-let mortgage market showed relative resilience, with landlord search volumes holding up against a broader market retreat.
New data from Twenty7tec's April 2026 Mortgage Market Snapshot reveals that buy-to-let searches rose 3% year-on-year, while BTL remortgage searches climbed 9% compared to April 2025, suggesting landlords remain active in reviewing and restructuring their borrowing arrangements.
BTL remortgage searches did fall 23% compared to March, but that decline sits in a different category to the wider market. Residential remortgage searches dropped 32% over the same period, the sharpest fall recorded across any segment. The data points to landlords having held their nerve more than other borrower types, even as sentiment across the market softened.
"The April figures reflect a market that remains highly reactive to both economic conditions and borrower sentiment," said Nakita Moss, head of lender at Twenty7tec.
"After the elevated activity levels seen in March, some degree of slowdown was expected, but the scale of the movement across remortgage and purchase searches highlights how closely borrower behaviour continues to track affordability pressures and wider financial uncertainty."
Moss added, "What's particularly interesting is that, despite softer overall activity, advisers are still navigating increasingly complex cases. The criteria searches this month show continued demand for support around adverse credit, self-employed income and residency questions, reinforcing the important role advisers continue to play in helping borrowers access the market."
Total mortgage searches fell 20% month-on-month in April, dropping from 2.15 million in March to 1.71 million. The broader slowdown follows elevated activity earlier in the year, which Twenty7tec's data suggests may reflect borrowers bringing forward decisions amid uncertainty around rates, inflation and wider economic conditions.
Residential purchase searches also softened, falling 9% month-on-month and 1% year-on-year, reinforcing affordability challenges facing prospective buyers despite periods of greater rate stability across parts of the market.
Product availability also reduced during April following stronger levels at the start of 2026, reflecting lenders' ongoing response to swap rate movements, inflation expectations and shifting market sentiment.
Adviser caseloads continued to grow in complexity. The most searched criteria topics in April included adverse credit, visa and residency requirements, self-employed income, missed payments and applications involving foreign nationals, underlining the increasingly specialist nature of borrower circumstances being handled across the market.
