Paul Thomas

Over the past year you may have heard about a ‘war’ being waged against the buy-to-let market. This could not be further from the truth – a war requires both sides to fight. Instead, at a time when politicians and regulators are pointing their swords at buy-to-let, banks are using theirs to hack away at their prices in a desperate attempt to keep a wounded market alive. The three months to 1 April saw a mad rush of activity, with landlords desperate to avoid being clobbered by increased stamp duty rates. Unsurprisingly, mortgage brokers are reporting a 10-15 per cent drop in the number of loans since. This has clearly panicked the banks and building societies as price cuts (to record-lows) are the go-to weapon of choice when sales are bad.