There has been a slight uptick in the proportion of landlords and investors looking to expand their portfolios over the next year.

This is according to Shawbrook Commercial’s latest Client Barometer, which found that 58% of investors are looking to purchase an additional buy-to-let.

The figure has shown a small increase since January 2016 when it was 56%. 

However, during this time there have been a lot of significant events, including the introduction of a 3% stamp duty surcharge and the UK voting to leave the European Union.

What’s more, landlord and investor confidence in the buy-to-let lending market remains unchanged, despite the Brexit vote in June.

The latest report reveals that 57% of the property investors surveyed by Shawbrook are feeling ‘very confident’ or ‘fairly confident’ about the lending environment over the next six months.

This represents just a slight dip since January, when 59% of respondents expressed their confidence in the market.

Despite many investors feeling upbeat about their future plans, it appears many still see the Brexit vote as the biggest challenge facing the market.

Some 42% of those surveyed said they feel the UK’s exit from the EU will negatively impact property investors, while only 14% said they expect it to have positive implications.

“Seeing this optimism reflected in investors’ plans to acquire new BTL properties is a promising sign that the specialist market shows no signs of slowing despite uncertainty,” says Stephen Johnson, deputy chief executive and managing director of property finance at Shawbrook.

“We have not yet seen any real change in customer behaviour and there is still a great deal of activity across the Commercial business,” he says.

Johnson concedes that the aftermath of the referendum does leave landlords in an uncertain situation, acknowledging that many investors will be waiting to see Brexit’s impact on property prices, tenant demand and housing supply.

He says, however, that there is potentially an opportunity for landlords looking to expand their portfolios to benefit from a slight dip in house prices by picking up acquisitions at a discount.

“Whilst the full effects of the Referendum result remain to be seen, it is clear those who have confidence in their business model and a sensible level of gearing are best placed to prosper through any period of uncertainty,” he concludes.