Buy-to-let landlords are flush with equity thanks to rising house prices and using their gains to buy new property or remortgage to cheaper deals.
The average landlord looking for a mortgage now has £99,914 of equity behind them, an increase of 15% or £13,289 in the last year, according to the Mortgage Search Tracker from Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB).
It said that equity gains from rising house prices are helping landlords to access better interest rates when investigating a new purchase or refinancing their existing deal.
MAB uses data from over 250,000 monthly product searches via price comparison and broker websites powered by Twenty7tec.
This showed that the average property value among buy-to-let borrowers remained constant at just under £230,000 in the 12 months to the end of 2014.
But the average loan-to-value dropped from 62.2% to 56.5%, as landlords had more spare equity behind them.
This increases their chances of securing lower rates as they represent a lower risk.
Brian Murphy, head of lending at MAB, said: "These findings show that landlords are in an especially strong position to use their recent equity gains to negotiate a better mortgage deal.
"House prices have settled into a steadier pattern in recent months, but the current low rate environment offers many buy-to-let borrowers the chance to reassess their finances.
"It means this part of the market is likely to see strong activity this year, both from people who are already involved with buy-to-let and others who are learning the ropes.
"A number of mainstream lenders have increased their BTL offer already and new entrants have also arrived to boost competition.
"Lending to landlords is still a modest part of the wider mortgage market, but in terms of percentage growth, it outstripped lending for house purchases and remortgaging last year. There are certainly no signs of BTL losing its appeal."
Murphy added: "Some borrowers may see equity gains as a chance to refinance and use some of their extra capital to expand their portfolio.
"For others, particularly those who are less concerned with growing their foothold in the market, there is plenty to be gained from remortgaging to get a cheaper deal or even bring their final repayment date forwards."
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