Buy-to-Let Property Borrowing Is Losing Favor in the U.K.

(Bloomberg) -- Britain’s love affair with buying property to rent it out is on the wane.

Buy-to-let borrowing as a share of all mortgages has fallen to the lowest level in six years, according to data from the Bank of England. It had accounted for more than one fifth of such home loans at the start of 2016.

The decline has been accelerated by a government crackdown on equity-rich homeowners buying up property to rent out. To help people get on the property ladder, it increased sales tax on second-home purchases and changed the tax relief for mortgage interest on rental homes, as well as giving the BOE powers to cap buy-to-let lending.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lucy Meakin in London at lmeakin1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Gordon at pgordon6@bloomberg.net, Fergal O'Brien, Andrew Atkinson

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