Record demand lifts buy-to-let mortgage rates

A flood of applications from buy-to-let landlords keen to cash in on the strong demand for rented property has prompted banks to pull dozens of cheap buy-to-let mortgages from the market.

More than 50 deals have disappeared recently after some 2,600 mortgages were granted to landlords every week between April and June, pushing the total number of loans of this kind to a record high of 1.3 million.