Northern England and the Midlands accounted for just under half of new BTL purchases in the first half of the year, according to Paragon Bank.
The East and West Midlands, North West, North East and Yorkshire and Humber accounted for 47.4% of new BTL purchases in the first six months, by volume.
This is up from 46% in 2024 and 33.5% in 2015.
The North West is now the second largest market for BTL-mortgaged purchases, and accounted for 12.9% of activity in the first half of 2025.
The region now sits just behind the South East which accounted for 15.4%.
Proportionally, Yorkshire and Humber hit its highest levels at 9.5%. This was up from 9.2% last year.
The proportion of purchases in London and the South East has fallen from a peak of 41.6% in the first half of 2015 to 27.6% this year. Meanwhile, activity in the South West also declined to 6% from 6.2% last year.
“The trend towards investment across Midlands and northern markets increased following the introduction of the Stamp Duty surcharge nearly a decade ago,” said Louisa Sedgwick, managing director of mortgages at Paragon Bank.
“These markets are appealing to landlords for several reasons, including the availability of appropriate stock, strong tenant demand, healthy local economies, lower purchase costs and generally stronger yields.”
