The latest Mortgage Trust forecast, the intermediary-only lenders survey of buy-to-let brokers, shows that that despite recent evidence of a slowdown in the growth of buy-to-let lending, 68.1% of respondents believe that business will improve over the next quarter.

Intermediaries believe that landlords will continue to invest in buy-to-let, due in part to the pension reforms planned for April 2006. This will see the inclusion of residential property as a qualifying asset class in SIPPs (self-invested personal pensions).

Nicola Severn, marketing manager at Mortgage Trust said: "Although existing landlords will not be able to easily transfer their current properties into SIPPs, the prospect of capital gains in the medium term may prove to be an attractive boost to their portfolios. These factors are certain to have been considered by brokers, who continue to believe that the buy-to-let market will remain strong over the coming three months."