Holiday let mortgage market maintains strength post-COVID lockdowns

Enquiries did not drop despite lifting of restrictions

Holiday let mortgage market maintains strength post-COVID lockdowns

The holiday let mortgage market has remained extremely popular with investors despite the easing of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, a poll conducted by specialist lender Hampshire Trust Bank (HTB) has revealed.

Over half, or 55%, of broker respondents said they had written a holiday let case over the past 12 months. Some 84% of respondents said they had received more holiday let enquiries since the onset of the pandemic in 2020, while 48% had even seen more enquiries since restrictions were lifted earlier in the year.

Staycations gained in popularity during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, as people across the country looked for ways to take a holiday while remaining within the UK amid travel restrictions.

With these restrictions removed and people once again able to travel abroad, it was thought that the holiday let market would take a plunge.

The findings from the broker survey indicate otherwise, Louisa Sedgwick, managing director of specialist mortgages at Hampshire Trust Bank, stressed.

Read more: Holiday lets UK – how are they holding up given the current financial climate?

“These findings show there is still significant demand for holiday let mortgages,” Sedgwick said. “The staycation boom we witnessed during the pandemic shows little sign of abating in the short-term.

“The fact that almost half of brokers taking part in the webinar have seen an increase in enquires since COVID restrictions were lifted clearly indicates the strength of demand for holiday let mortgages in the UK.”

Brokers were also asked what the most popular regions in the UK for holiday let enquiries were over the past 12 months. For 54% of the respondents, the South West of England was the most popular location, followed by Cumbria and the Lake District (26%), the South Coast (23%) and East Anglia (14%).

The responses were collected during a recent HTB webinar on staycations and holiday let mortgages, which had nearly 100 brokers in attendance.