Only one in three landlords across the buy-to-let market earn their sole living from their property portfolio, according to research.

Specialist lender Precise Mortgages’ study of over 800 landlords, carried out in March, found that 52% use letting income to boost earnings from a full-time job.

Among landlords with larger portfolios of 11 to 19 properties, 32% supplement day-job earnings with lettings income, while the figure drops to 18% of those with more than 20 properties.

Of landlords with six to 10 properties, almost half (47%) use lettings income to supplement their earnings.

Meanwhile, just 16% of those surveyed said they plan to add more properties in the year ahead, with 71% of these saying they would fund purchases with a buy-to-let mortgage.

“Given that the majority of landlords have other earnings that can be used to show they can meet underwriting standards, lenders need to reflect this in their product offering to support landlords accordingly,” says Alan Cleary, managing director of Precise Mortgages.

“Top slicing allows landlords to manage their properties in a way they choose and gives them greater access to the products and loan sizes they want and particularly for those who may have been restricted in the past.”