Since the start of the year, the cost of a typical five-year fixed buy-to-let (BTL) mortgage has fallen despite the possibility of a Bank of England base rate rise, according to Property Master.

The digital start up launched a ‘Mortgage Tracker’ which used algorithms to match the requirements of individual private landlords against the entire BTL mortgage market of 2,000-plus products.

The tracker follows a range of BTL mortgages for an interest-only loan on a typical property worth £180,000, tracking rates from some of the biggest lenders in the market, including: Barclays, NatWest, RBS, TSB, Virgin Money and BM Solutions.

Two-year fixed rates based on 65% and 75% loan-to-value (LTV) declined from January to May 1 of this year, the tracker found. The two-year fixed rate mortgages for 50% of the value of a property, however, increased 0.42% over the same period.

Angus Stewart, chief executive of Property Master, said such a significant increase reflects that there are fewer lenders ‘discriminating’ at the 50% LTV level, meaning lenders are taking margin and giving back on other LTV levels.

Meanwhile, savings for a property worth £180,000 on a five-year fixed rate BTL interest-only mortgage ranged from £5 to £15 per month, while two-year fixed rates ranged from £10 to £15 a month.

“There are some very good deals out there for landlords despite worries over any future increase in base rates but there may be other factors operating in the buy-to-let market which explains the decline in costs that we have seen,” Stewart continued.

“Our findings come on the back of recent research revealing that the number of buy-to-let products currently on the market has reached a record high, so it could be that we are seeing landlords benefitting from unprecedented competition amongst lenders for their business. This is very good news indeed.”