Buy-to-let lending in the Midlands and north of England accounted for just under half of new purchases during the first half of the year according to Paragon Bank.

Their analysis of industry data revealed that the East and West Midlands, North West, North East and Yorkshire and Humber accounted for 47.4% of new buy-to-let purchases with a mortgage in the first six months of the 2025 by volume, up from 46% during the same period in 2024 and 33.5% a decade ago.

Louisa Sedgwick, Paragon Bank Managing Director of Mortgages, said: ““These markets are appealing to landlords for several reasons, including the availability of appropriate stock, strong tenant demand, healthy local economies, lower purchase costs and generally stronger yields.

“The South East and London are still the UK’s most important rental markets, however, given the transient nature of these markets and their economic importance. Stifled new supply against heightened tenant demand has driven rental inflation. Without an increase in new stock across the South East, and in particular London, tenant choice is diminished.”

The North West is now the second largest market for buy-to-let mortgaged purchases, accounting for 12.9% of acquisitions during the first half of the year. Proportionally, Yorkshire and the Humber hit its highest level at 9.5%, up from 9.2% last year.

The proportion of purchases in London and the South East has fallen from a peak of 41.6% in H1 2015 to 27.6% this year, broadly in line with last year, whilst the South West also declined to 6% from 6.2% last year.