THE proportion of landlords planning to buy new properties has nearly doubled since the beginning of the year, research indicated today.

Around 21% of buy-to-let investors said they planned to expand their portfolios during the third quarter of the year, up from just 11% in the first quarter, according to specialist lender paragon Mortgages.

Terrace houses were the most popular, with 74% of landlords who were looking to buy saying they favoured this type of property, followed by semi-detached homes, flats and detached properties.

But despite being keen to increase the number of buy-to-let properties they held, many landlords said the lack of mortgage availability still remained a major stumbling block.

Four out of 10 landlords said they had tried to obtain a mortgage during the second quarter, either to buy a new property or to remortgage an existing one, but half of these said getting a mortgage had been more difficult than previously.

Around 46% of investors said they would buy more properties if mortgages were easier to obtain, while 43% said better tax incentives would encourage them to expand their portfolios and 42% said sustained tenant demand would make them increase their holdings.

John Heron, managing director of Paragon Mortgages, said: "There has been a significant jump in the percentage of landlords looking to purchase property, which reflects the increased level of confidence across the landlord community.

"However, there remains a dislocation between landlords’ desire to purchase property and their ability to do so.

"Accessing mortgage finance remains difficult for a large number of landlords."

He said that although a number of new players had entered the market, the majority of buy-to-let mortgages were still targeted at small-scale investors, rather than professional landlords.

He said: "If the market, and the private rented sector, is going to expand, then criteria needs to be adapted to allow larger-scale landlords to grow their property businesses."

:: The research was based on responses from 200 landlords questioned during May.