LendInvest originated a record £1.44bn of loans in the year to 31 March 2026, with £917m of that total coming from buy-to-let lending as the specialist lender said activity was increasingly concentrated among professional landlords and portfolio investors.
The results also showed a return to profitability, with profit after tax of £2.3m versus a loss the year before, alongside assets under management rising 18 percent to £3.82bn. What is newly clear now is not just that lending volumes have grown, but that bigger landlords are doing more of the borrowing while smaller operators face a harder funding and compliance backdrop.
For landlords, that matters because it adds another sign that specialist finance is tilting toward better-capitalised borrowers with scale, stronger records and clearer portfolio strategy. The headline growth is positive for market liquidity, but it also hints at a sector where access to funding is becoming less evenly spread.
Buy-to-let lending drove the record year
LendInvest said new lending rose 17 percent year on year to £1.44bn, including record quarterly originations of £415m in the fourth quarter and a record £196m in March alone. Buy-to-let originations reached £917m, while short-term mortgage offers hit a record £113m in the final quarter.
The lender also said impaired balances fell 30 percent to £63.1m and underlying profit before tax improved to £4m from a £1.3m loss in FY25. That gives the update more weight than a simple volume story. The business is writing more loans while cleaning up credit quality and moving back into the black.
Still, the most useful line for landlords may be the one about who is borrowing. LendInvest said activity was led by professional landlords and portfolio investors, which fits a wider pattern across landlord finance rather than an isolated company result.
Professional landlords are taking a larger share
This follows Landlord Knowledge’s recent report on average landlord portfolios rising to 7.3 properties and our coverage of Fleet widening criteria for joint borrowers and UK company groups. The latest LendInvest figures suggest the same direction of travel is showing up in funding demand – larger and more structured borrowers are still the ones moving fastest.
That does not mean smaller landlords have vanished from the market. It does mean the best mortgage availability, and perhaps the quickest lender appetite, may increasingly sit with borrowers who can show scale, incorporated structures, repeat business and cleaner underwriting profiles.
There is a mildly contrarian angle here too. Record lending sounds like broad landlord confidence, but the detail points more toward consolidation than a universal recovery. If professional investors are doing most of the borrowing, headline growth can mask a narrower active buyer pool beneath it.
The underlying company announcement on LendInvest’s FY26 results also said the group entered FY27 with its biggest lending pipeline to date. Even so, it cautioned that second-quarter volumes could soften because swap-rate moves linked to the Middle East conflict had pushed funding costs higher.
What landlords should watch next
That warning matters. It suggests lenders can report strong annual numbers and still face a choppier near-term pricing environment. So landlords reading the results as a sign that finance conditions are simply improving across the board may be getting ahead of themselves.
Landlords who are refinancing or planning acquisitions should take the more practical lesson: lenders still want business, but they may favour borrowers with stronger cases and may reprice quickly if wholesale conditions move against them. In that market, preparedness matters almost as much as rate level.
What this means for landlords
- If you’re a portfolio landlord: lender appetite still looks strongest for scaled borrowers with clear structures and clean cases.
- If you’re smaller or expanding cautiously: do not assume record lending means easy access for every borrower or every property type.
- Watch for: whether swap-rate pressure starts feeding into fresh repricing despite strong lender pipelines.
- Bottom line: LendInvest’s record year is good news for specialist buy-to-let liquidity, but the benefit appears to be landing most clearly with professional landlords.
Editor’s view
There is real strength in these numbers, but landlords should read past the headline. The deeper story is consolidation: more lending, yes, but increasingly to borrowers who already look organised, scaled and easier for lenders to back.
Author: Editorial Team – UK landlord & buy-to-let news, policy, and finance
Published: 17 July 2026
Sources: LendInvest / Investegate
Related reading: LendInvest cuts 10bps on BTL rates and expands expat mortgage criteria
