A report published by specialist lender Paragon Mortgages revealed that 19% of landlords plan to increase the size of their property portfolios in Q3, a sharp rise from the 13% recorded in the first quarter of the year.

Terraced houses were the most popular choice for investment, followed by flats and maisonettes.

The majority of those polled (86%) thought that rent levels would either remain stable or grow over the next 12 months with a similar figure (93%) reporting increasing demand from tenants.

Just 6% of buy-to-let landlords felt that demand for rental properties would fall in the coming months.

John Heron, director of mortgages, said:

“This long-running survey is designed to improve our understanding of changes in landlord sentiment, motivation and outlook and the second quarter results paint a picture of a strong, confident and growing market.

“Landlords are consistently seeing strong rental demand, and on the back of better availability of buy-to-let mortgages they are planning to buy more property, which should improve the supply of property to tenants, thus easing some of the pressure that has been building.

“Nevertheless, tenant demand continues to remain high, and I suspect this will remain for some time as we wait for more significant improvements in the wider housing market and also for the various government schemes to take hold and have an impact.”