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Buy-to-let (BTL) mortgage rates have been falling over the past few months, with the average rate at 5.09% in August.
The downward trajectory has been driven by three cuts to the Bank of England base rate this year, dropping it from 4.75% to 4%.
Here, Which? explains what's happening to BTL rates and reveals the cheapest deals currently on the market.
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The average BTL mortgage rate fell for much of 2024. However, between October 2024 and February 2025, it actually increased from 5.25% to 5.49%.
Since February the tide has turned, with the average rate falling every month.
The August average, 5.09%, is lower than the 6.79% recorded two years ago, but well above the 2.86% recorded five years ago.
This means the term length of your last fixed-rate deal will dictate whether you are better or worse off when you come to remortgage your property.
Landlords coming off a two-year fixed-rate mortgage will likely find their mortgage costs fall. However, those coming off a five-year fixed-rate mortgage will see their costs rise significantly.
The graph below shows what's happened to fixed BTL mortgage rates over the past year.
Buy-to-let mortgage rates are expected to continue to drift down for the rest of the year, after another base rate cut on 7 August and signs that the Bank of England will continue to take a gradual approach to reducing the base rate.
Experts predict one further base rate cut in 2025, which will likely come in December.
As only one more base rate cut is expected for the rest of the year, it's likely rates won't fall as quickly as we saw in late April and early May.
When we last checked Moneyfacts data on 8 August, there were 4,457 BTL mortgages on the market. Most are available to landlords with deposits of at least 25%, although some higher loan-to-value deals are available.
Looking at average rates gives us a general idea of what's happening in the market, but when you're taking out a mortgage, you'll want to get the cheapest deal you can.
The tables show the lowest initial rates currently available on two-year and five-year fixed-rate buy-to-let mortgages.
These rates are significantly more attractive, but there are drawbacks. The cheapest deals here come with substantial upfront fees, which you'll need to factor in when comparing overall costs.
For example, the lowest-rate 60% mortgage has a fee of 3% of the amount you borrow, so if you borrow £200,000, you'll need to pay a fee of £6,000.
Fee-free BTL mortgages are less common, making up just 11% of deals, but some deals do come with lower upfront fees of around £999-£1,500.
| 60% | Birmingham Midshires Solutions | 2.78% | 8.59% | Arrangement 3% Advance |
| 75% | Birmingham Midshires Solutions | 2.98% | 8.59% | Arrangement 3% Advance |
| 80% | Molo Finance | 3.84% | 6.69% | Arrangement 4.5% Advance |
Source: Moneyfacts. Rates correct as of 8 August 2025. Deals with up-front fees of more than 5% of the amount borrowed and 'green' deals aren't included.
| 60% | Birmingham Midshires Solutions | 3.7% | 8.59% | Arrangement 3% Advance |
| 75% | Virgin Money | 3.75% | 7.74% | Arrangement 3% Advance |
| 80% | HSBC | 4.77% | 7.6% | None |
Source: Moneyfacts. Rates correct as of 8 August 2025. Deals with up-front fees of more than 5% of the amount borrowed and 'green' deals aren't included.
Hamptons has reported that there were 8% more homes available to rent across Great Britain in the first six months of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024. But does this mean we’re seeing an increase in landlords?
Not quite. Hamptons attributes the rise to a drop in the number of tenants looking for rental properties, leading to homes staying on the market for longer. In fact, first-time buyers purchased a record 33% of all homes sold across Great Britain in the first half of the year.
This helped to reduce the number of tenants searching for rental homes by 11% compared with the same period in 2024.
Property website Zoopla paints a similar picture, reporting a 17% jump in rental supply over the past year. While it notes some signs of landlords returning to the market as borrowing costs fall, it says demand from renters has clearly softened.
Despite the recent uplift, the number of available homes remains 20% lower than before the pandemic, meaning there is still strong competition for some types of rental properties.
