Industry figures covering the first half of the year reveal a steep annual increase in the amount of extra buy-to-let borrowing used for improving properties.
Remortgages data shows that the first half of 2024 saw equity valuing £712 million used for property improvement in 4,632 remortgage cases.
During the same period in 2025, almost £1.1 billion was raised for the same purpose across 6,737 remortgage cases. This represents a steep rise of 54% in monetary terms and a 45% increase in the number of loans.
This is the highest level of remortgage-funded property improvement by landlords since the first half of 2022 when 8,032 remortgages released £1.28 billion in equity.
This was no less than 93% higher by value and 74% by volume compared to the corresponding period a year later when the total amount of equity withdrawn dropped to £662 million across 4,605 remortgage cases. A surge in mortgage rates in the wake of the infamous Liz Truss mini budget forced many landlords to switch to a product offered by their existing lender to overcome affordability challenges.
Since then, as the market has recovered, the value and volume of equity withdrawn for property improvement has steadily increased.
The figures align with research undertaken for Paragon which illustrates how landlords have driven substantial growth in the proportion of privately rented homes classed as ‘decent.’
A significant proportion of landlords, 44%, adopt a strategy of acquiring homes in need of improvement. Additionally, landlords spend approximately £8,500 a year, across their portfolios, making improvements.
Louisa Sedgwick, Paragon Bank managing director of mortgages, said: “As we near the three-year anniversary of the mini budget, we can look back at how it has influenced landlord behaviour in the time since. This data shows how it had a very real impact on the market, curtailing investment in improving privately rented homes.
“But it’s encouraging to see this recover over the past couple of years and approach the levels recorded before market turmoil. This reaffirms the resilience of the market and shows that landlords will take advantage of a comparatively favourable borrowing environment to enhance their propositions, leveraging equity to make improvements to their properties.”
