UK buy-to-let mortgage lending rose sharply from a year earlier in the second quarter of 2026, but loans for property purchases fell slightly compared with the first three months of the year.
UK Finance’s figures, published on 21 October, show 58,051 new buy-to-let loans worth £10.7 billion were issued between April and June. The number of loans was 20.6% higher than in the same quarter of 2025.
Remortgaging accounted for most of the activity: 39,631 loans, an increase of 470 from the previous quarter. There were 16,026 loans for new property purchases, down by 845 over the same period.
The annual rise needs context. UK Finance says borrowers brought transactions forward ahead of stamp duty changes in 2025, leaving lending unusually low in that year’s second quarter. Expiring fixed-rate loans also contributed to the increase in remortgaging.
The distinction matters when reading the headline figures: higher total lending does not mean an equivalent increase in loans to buy rental properties.
Source
UK Finance: Buy-to-Let Update, Q2 2026, published 21 October 2026.
