Categories: government and politics | government and politics buy to let mortgages
government and politicsIn November 2025, the UK economy unexpectedly grew by 0.3%. Considering the uncertainty surrounding the Autumn Budget announcement, this was a welcome surprise for many economic forecasters. Industry data also suggests that, last year, private rental sector (PRS) experienced promising signs of growth.
This means that 2026 may be starting on the right foot, even though the PRS also faced its share of uncertainty surrounding new government policies last year – namely the passing of the Renters’ Rights Act into law.
However, simmering international tensions could pose some obstacles for further economic growth.
Borrowing boost
Sourcing figures from UK Finance, property portal Rightmove reported that buy to let borrowing activity is at the most encouraging level since 2022.
For the first ten months of 2025, UK Finance reported a substantial rise in buy to let mortgage and remortgage applications.
Standard buy to let mortgages were up by 13% in Quarter 3 of 2025, compared to the same period of 2024. Remortgages, on an even more positive note, had increased by 23%.
Interpreting the data
Rightmove’s representatives believe that the increases in mortgages and remortgages can be taken as a good sign that landlords are still comfortable with new property investments and maintaining their existing portfolios.
To support this conclusion, Rightmove’s buy to let mortgage tracker feature shows that the average two-year buy to let mortgage rate for a landlord with a 25% deposit is 4.84%. This is a significant reduction compared to the average rate of 5.51% displayed last year.
Rightmove concluded that affordability is becoming less of a barrier for property investors looking to get into the PRS.
UK-wide yield increases
Growth in the PRS is certainly positive news for the wider UK economy. Controversial policies in the Renters’ Rights Act fed into widespread fears of a mass ‘landlord exodus’ from the PRS.
While some landlords have indeed left the sector, this data indicates that many landlords are feeling positive about the future.
Meanwhile, the 0.3% economic growth from November was primarily driven by increases in industrial output, with car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover recovering from a devastating cyber-attack earlier in 2025. Services such as accounting and tax consultancy also saw substantial growth.
Simmering global tensions
We have previously covered the potential impact of geopolitics on the UK mortgage market, back when the conflict in Israel was at its peak. In 2026, international tensions have only continued to escalate.
Violent crackdowns against protestors in Iran led to Trump declaring a punitive 25% tariff on US trade with the Islamic Republic, as well as all other countries that trade with them. While Trump is no stranger to imposing hefty tariffs on foreign trade, this move may lead to fuel prices increasing for many countries.
Trump has set his sights on claiming Greenland as the 51st US state, despite it being an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. Trump claims that this is to secure a strategic advantage against Russia, but the Arctic region is also known to have a large well of natural resources, including oil, gas and rare minerals.
Most recently, Trump threatened more damaging tariffs against world leaders who oppose his plans to expand US territory. Following Keir Starmer’s statements in support of Greenland and Denmark’s autonomy, the UK may also be in Trump’s line of fire.
We will keep you updated on how this develops, and how the UK economy may be impacted.