Apparently the last quarter has been the busiest since 2008 for buy to let lending, with a total of 32,000 loans being approved between April and July, worth £3.5 billion. Although these figures look good, the Council of Mortgage Lenders has pointed out that this is just a third of levels seen in 2007 when the market was at its peak.

While demand from buy to let investors has definitely increased during the last few months, nearly two thirds of activity has been due to remortgaging. By the end of the second quarter in 2011 there were 1.34 million buy to let mortgages totalling £154.5 billion. This was up from 1.26 million mortgages worth £148.8 billion for the second quarter of 2010. Arrears before the buy to let sector are now lower than the owner occupied sector, which is the first time since 2008, however there was an increase in repossessions, up from 1,700 in the first 12:45 1,900 in the second quarter.

There has been a lot in the news recently suggesting that first-time buyers have been forced out of the market by the buy to let sector, but apparently the figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show there was a 24% increase in first-time buyer loans in May and first-time buyer numbers are now at their highest level for 10 months. This seems to be a pretty clear indication that landlords are not preventing first-time buyers from getting a foot on the property ladder. The increase in mortgage lending for the buy to let sector is also good news for those who want to continue renting for a while as it should increase availability.