UK property investors favour the use of intermediaries when taking out buy-to-let mortgages, according to Birmingham Midshires.

The lender’s study has revealed that 70% of landlords in the UK use an intermediary to arrange their mortgage deal, compared with 26% in Germany, 23% in Poland and 6% in Portugal.

In addition, void periods are also much lower in the UK, with the average period of 15 days seen over the past year, which is 73 days lower than the figure for German landlords. Void periods are also often lower on student properties due to the practice of offering annual lets.