Some 16,200 loans were advanced in March, up 56 per cent compared to the previous year signifying lending appetite and landlord opportunities in the private rental sector showed no signs of abating.

Broken down by transaction type, house purchase loans in March increased by 46 per cent year-on-year totaling £960m – a 60 per cent rise compared to March 2013.

But remortgage lending saw the most substantial upward trend with a 67 per cent increase in loans compared to March 2013.

These buy-to-let remortgages had a total value of £1.2bn up 73 per cent year-on-year.

Several lenders have loosened their buy-to-let criteria since the start of the year as a way of keeping lending volumes up as the Mortgage Market Review slows down lending in the regulated residential market.