Buy to let mortgage lending will take several years to recover, says expert

The buy-to-let mortgage market is likely to take "several years" before it returns to its pre-recession condition, it has been claimed.

Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show that the value of lending to the buy-to-let sector in the last quarter increased by 12 per cent and totalled 26,900 loans .

However, this figure remains low by historical standards and is similar to levels seen in 2002.

Chris Horne, editor of Property Hawk, observed that while buy-to-let finance has "eased" over the last year, there is unlikely to be a sharp recovery in 2011.

"It is the unwinding of the big collapse in the banks," remarked Mr Horne.

He added: "Slowly they are rebuilding their capital position and they are then gaining the confidence to lend to people like landlords . It is going to take quite a few years for the market to return to anything like it was pre-2007."

Meanwhile, a report produced by Upad recently found that some 54 per cent of landlords say they are more confident in the rental sector in November than they were last month - down from 57 per cent in October.?