The number of buy-to-let mortgages on the market has dropped drastically in the last year, leaving thousands of landlords struggling to find affordable mortgage deals, however Lee Grandin of Landlord Mortgages believes lenders will be gradually easing rates on mortgage deals in the near future.

The Daily Telegraph revealed that the number of mortgages available has dropped by 93%, from the 4,384 deals available 12 months ago to the 307 offers which are currently available to borrowers. Experts estimated that the lack of availability will affect around 110,000 amateur landlords who only have one buy-to-let mortgage on their portfolio as they do not have enough properties to help prevent the slowing of the market.

Grandin told PIN: “Without a doubt there are less buy-to-let mortgages available now than there were 12 months ago. Anyone who has purchased a property in the last three years will be finding it difficult to refinance due to a couple of factors. First, loan-to-values (LTVs) have come down to 75% so investors will need a bigger deposit to re-mortgage and second, house prices have decreased since they purchased the property. Those people that are coming off deals right now will find that even a 75% LTV won’t get them a more favourable deal than they are currently on. But things are beginning to improve. We predict that lenders will be gradually continually easing the rates on mortgage deals so some better deals will emerge in the next few months.”