Landlords are managing increasingly layered borrowing arrangements, with multiple loans and lender relationships opening the door to more frequent use of short-term and transitional finance.
Research from Pegasus Insight’s Landlord Trends Q4 2025 data shows landlords with buy-to-let borrowing hold an average of 6.5 individual loans, typically spread across just over two lender relationships, with total borrowing averaging £714,000.
The findings underline how portfolio structures have evolved, with landlords often operating across multiple facilities rather than relying on a single long-term mortgage. This creates a more dynamic funding environment, where refinancing timelines, asset performance and lender appetite all need to be actively managed.
For the bridging sector, this increasingly fragmented borrowing landscape presents a clear use case. Landlords managing several loans with different maturity dates may require short-term finance to align exits, complete refinances or manage cashflow between transactions.
The data suggests landlords are already taking a more proactive stance. Seven in 10 began their most recent remortgage process at least three months ahead of product maturity, pointing to greater awareness of refinancing risk and the need to plan ahead.
However, where timelines slip or conventional refinance options are not immediately available, bridging and other short-term solutions can provide the flexibility needed to manage portfolio transitions, particularly where assets are being repositioned or stabilised.
The role of brokers remains central in this process, particularly for landlords with larger or more complex portfolios. Pegasus Insight found most landlords continue to rely on intermediaries when arranging buy-to-let finance, reflecting the need for a coordinated, portfolio-level approach.
Mark Long, managing director and founder of Pegasus Insight, said: “What stands out from the data is the degree to which landlord borrowing is structured across multiple products and lenders. For many, managing finance is no longer a one-off decision, but an ongoing process.
“What’s interesting here is not just the number of loans, but what that says about how landlords are operating. Managing multiple mortgages across different lenders requires a level of coordination and forward planning that simply wasn’t part of the model for many landlords historically.
“That creates both opportunity and exposure for borrowers. When financing is structured across several products, decisions in one part of the portfolio can have knock-on effects elsewhere, particularly around refinancing and cashflow timing.
“It also reinforces the importance of professional mortgage advice. As portfolios become more layered, landlords need a clear view across their borrowing, rather than treating each mortgage in isolation.”
For bridging lenders and brokers, the research highlights a growing need to support landlords navigating overlapping refinance windows, asset-level strategies and evolving funding requirements, particularly where speed and flexibility are critical to maintaining portfolio performance.
