Paragon Mortgages, one of the buy to let sector’s biggest and best-known lenders, says its buy to let lending in the final quarter of last year was no less than 80.6 higher than in the same period of 2014.
The surge - attributed entirely to the stamp duty deadline of April 1 imposed by Chancellor George Osborne when he introduced a three per cent surcharge on ‘additional homes’ - helped push Paragon’s pre-tax profits up 12.3 per cent.
In a trading statement to the City, The Paragon Group of Companies says its pre-tax profits for the quarter to December 31 were £33.9m, a 12.3 per cent increase on the same time period last year.
The 80.6 per cent increase in new buy to let lending totalled £400.9m; there is also a pipeline of applications which as of December 31 stood at £595.7m, some 43 per cent higher than at the same point in 2014.
“Whilst over time recent policy developments may cause some softening in the rate of growth of buy to let at a market level, demand for private rented housing continues to remain strong and all indications suggest this is only likely to increase in the coming years” according to John Heron, director of mortgages.
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