Buy to let investors have created the largest increase in the mortgage market in the past year, it’s being claimed.

Octane Capital analysed the latest Bank of England data, released last week, which shows that total advances in residential loans to individuals climbed by 2.1 per cent in 2022, hitting £322.5 billion and adding further positive growth to the 26.8 per cent annual jump seen the previous year. 

At just shy of £99.7 billion, mainstream market home movers continue to be the single largest sector in the residential mortgage space. But the biggest proportional rise has been amongst investors – the total value of loans issued to buy to let purchasers climbed by 12 per cent over the last year. 

The chief executive of Octane Capital, Jonathan Samuels, comments: “On the face of it, the residential mortgage sector is yet to show any signs that the current cooling market is anything other than a gradual return to normality following the pandemic market boom. 

“However, what we certainly are seeing is a shift in the landscape and while home movers still account for the vast majority of residential market activity, growing uncertainty around the wider health of the market has caused this number to decline, with many choosing to stay put and remortgage.

“Instead it is the buy to let space that has, perhaps surprisingly, shown the strongest and most consistent growth in recent years. It’s clear that with the number of loans issued to home movers on the decline, brokers should be turning their attention to this segment of the market to capitalise on increasing demand.”