Moody's raises concerns about UK buy-to-let sector

The rating agency reckons the post-Brexit uncertainty will impact mortgage lending.

Moody’s has expressed concerns about the impact of the EU referendum on the UK property market with buy-to-let highlightedas being of particular concern.

The rating agency reckons the post-Brexit uncertainty will impactmortgage lending, particularly in the buy-to let sector.

Kamran Sabir, a vice president atMoody's, said: "With reduced demand for credit and downward pressure on house prices, economic uncertainty will likely reverse previously positive market conditions for the UK mortgage market.

"Moody's says BTL property purchases will contract the most, given the dual impact of uncertainty of future rental income growth and house price growth. This is combined with the increased cost due to the stamp duty changes for second homes, which came into effect this April. These factors in aggregate, will reduce the demand for BTL properties and therefore mortgage lending in this sector, lowering BTL RMBS issuance.

"Building societies accounted for 37% of rated UK mortgage-backed bonds in H1 2016. Post-Brexit, Moody's expects building societies to be more reliant on growth in deposit gathering and reduction in lending to help bridge their funding gap. In the UK market, most future issuance from building societies will be concentrated in the prime mortgages segment, rather than BTL mortgages."