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UK buy to let lending - latest UK Finance stats

ended 15. April 2026

Any thoughts on the below data in from UK Finance, pronto please. Writing this now.

  • In Q4 2025 there were 59,489 new buy-to-let loans advanced in the UK, worth £11.2 billion. This was up quite significantly compared with the same quarter in the previous year, 18.2 per cent by number (21.3 per cent by value), with the growth largely concentrated in remortgage activity.
  • The average gross buy-to-let rental yield for the UK in Q4 2025 was 7.18 per cent, compared with 6.99 per cent in the same quarter in the previous year.
  • The number of BTL fixed rate mortgages outstanding in Q4 2025 was 1.46 million, 2 per cent up on a year previously. In contrast, the number of variable rate loans outstanding fell by a further 9.8 per cent to 466,000.
  • The average interest rate across all new buy-to-let loans in the UK was 4.77 per cent in Q4 2025. This was 8 basis points lower than in the previous quarter, and 32 basis points lower than in the same quarter of 2024.
  • Reflecting the downwards movement in interest rates, the average buy-to-let interest cover ratio (ICR) for the UK in Q4 2025 was 218 per cent, up from 201 per cent in Q4 2024 and 215 in the previous quarter.
  • At the end of Q4 2025 there were 9,520 buy-to-let mortgages in arrears greater than 2.5 per cent of the outstanding balance. This was down 910 from the previous quarter.
  • There were 770 buy-to-let mortgage possessions taken in Q4 2025, up 10 per cent from 700 in the same quarter a year previously.

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Editor
Harry Goodliffe
Director at HTG Mortgages
UK BTL activity picked up towards the end of 2025, mostly driven by a surge in remortgaging rather than new purchases. A continued move toward fixed-rate mortgage products highlights a preference for certainty, even as rates began to edge down. Meanwhile, stronger interest cover ratios and falling arrears point to improved resilience across the BTL sector, although a rise in possessions shows some investors are still feeling the strain. Given the current economic situation, these numbers should be taken with a pinch of salt; the BTL market still faces many changes in today’s world.