According to The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) new buy-to-let loans fell to 144,600 in the first half of 2008, an 18% dip compared with the previous six months, and the first fall for three years.
CML director general Michael Coogan said "We expect the rental market to remain underpinned by strong demand, partly because some people who would like to buy a home are being forced to carry on renting for now".
But the decline was not as steep as in the wider mortgage market - which saw a 28% drop in home loans in the first half of 2008 compared with the previous six months.
Some 0.16% - or 1,800 out of more than one million - buy-to-let homes were repossessed during the first six months of the year, up from 0.11% during the previous six months.
The average loan was an 83% loan-to-value offer during the first six months of the year.
CML director general Michael Coogan said "We expect the rental market to remain underpinned by strong demand, partly because some people who would like to buy a home are being forced to carry on renting for now".
But the decline was not as steep as in the wider mortgage market - which saw a 28% drop in home loans in the first half of 2008 compared with the previous six months.
Some 0.16% - or 1,800 out of more than one million - buy-to-let homes were repossessed during the first six months of the year, up from 0.11% during the previous six months.
The average loan was an 83% loan-to-value offer during the first six months of the year.
