According to many mortgage experts monitoring the market today the buy-to-let (BTL) market should be more heavily regulated by a party such as the Financial Standards Board (FSB) in order to prevent potentially debilitating economic conditions from developing once more and undermining the recovering economy. This push is primarily based on the fact that, according to recent studies, at least 32% of all BTL clients found on the market throughout the country are amateur landlords, with roughly 75% of BTL purchasers amateur investors.

The boom in BTL interest has been primarily driven according to most mortgage professionals by low mortgage rates offered in different products across the country coupled with decent fixed-rate mortgages being available on the table for purchases. This, along with the recent property market drive for more and more people to accept renting over outright purchases, has meant that the BTL market has seen considerable interest by many people in recent years that it may not have seen otherwise.

The result now is that many BTL property owners are finding themselves trapped in financial arrears in regards to their mortgages, being unable to pay off all of their debts as the market shifts and adjusts to the growing BTL trends. This means that the majority of BTL owners and investors out there are at risk of holding potentially high non-performing loans that may make a significant blow to the current real estate sector should they go under.

Because of the large quantity of inexperienced and potentially economically dangerous participants in the BTL market as of right now many mortgage professionals are hoping that the FSB will provide some sort of more stringent regulation or oversight over lenders in order to ensure that further market saturation of those that are unprepared to take on the financial risks of buy-to-let ownership does not happen. Whether or not this will actually occur, however, is still yet to be decided as the market adjusts to the coming summer months of activity.