Buy-to-let (BTL) activity slowed as landlords focused on remortgaging over new purchases, new data from Twenty7tec found.
BTL purchase searches dropped by 13.67% year-on-year, but remortgage searches rose by 6.05%.
After strong BTL activity over the past five years, landlords turned to protecting their existing portfolios instead of growing them.
Nakita Moss (pictured), head of lender relationships at Twenty7tec, said: “We’re seeing a clear behavioural shift as landlords respond to higher borrowing costs and tighter yields.
“More landlords are focused on refinancing rather than expanding, taking advantage of stabilising rates to secure long-term certainty.
“The era of portfolio growth has paused – for now it’s about resilience and risk management.”
In October, BTL purchases made up 33.1% of all landlord searches, meaning two-thirds of landlord activity was remortgaging.
Across the wider mortgage market, there were 28,835 products live at the end of October, the most ever recorded by Twenty7tec.
Lenders remained confident even as purchase demand slowed before the Autumn Budget.
Searches from first-time buyers (FTBs) dropped to their lowest point this year at 297,387.
Nathan Reilly, commercial director, said: “The figures suggest a market in transition: steady, active, and cautious.
“Landlords appear to be locking in rates while they can, signalling confidence in the long-term rental market but restraint when it comes to expansion.”
