There has been a sharp rise in buy-to-let mortgage activity as property investors look to take advantage of the current stamp duty holiday, brokers report. 

A survey carried out by mortgage adviser forum Cherry found an increase in demand from both individuals and those buying via a limited company.

More than 30% of brokers reported an increase in individual purchases and almost 27% said they had arranged more deals for limited companies acquiring buy-to-let properties.

According to the study, purchase activity is leading the way in terms of buy-to-let enquiries, with 57% of brokers seeing an increase in acquisitions, compared to less than 12% who reported more demand for capital raising on a remortgage.

It would appear that investors have more specialist requirements at the moment, with almost 8% of brokers reporting a rise in demand for houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), and close to 4% making more enquiries for lending on multi-unit blocks of flats and holiday lets.

Short-term lending has also grown in popularity, with nearly 8% of brokers saying they are working with more clients on sourcing bridging for refurbishment products.

Donna Hopton, director at Cherry, commented: “It’s clear there has been a spike in buy-to-let activity in recent weeks. Whereas the BTL market has been dominated by remortgage business in recent years, it is purchase enquiries that are currently keeping brokers busy.

“This window of opportunity for reduced stamp duty land tax will certainly be helping to drive this demand, but we are seeing that the market is generally buoyant, which is a positive sign for advisers, and the economy.”