Specialist lender Hodge has seen a 173% increase in the number of holiday let mortgage applications in 2021 compared with 2020.

The average holiday let property mortgaged by Hodge has also increased year on year by £50,000 and now sits at £404,000.

Coastal locations are still the most popular areas to buy a holiday let, with Devon and Cornwall postcodes still topping Hodge’s list for the most applications.

When it comes to the most popular time to apply for a holiday let mortgage, June 2021 saw a 19% increase in the number of applications compared to any other month since Hodge launched its holiday let product.

Emma Graham, business development director at Hodge, said: “We’ve seen a very tumultuous couple of years since we first launched our holiday let mortgage at the end of 2019. As Brits went into lockdown, families across the country looked for other ways to holiday and the staycation reached peak popularity, giving our holiday let mortgage proposition a boost.

“It’s all about flexible criteria at Hodge, the fact we can lend to non-owner-occupiers and don’t impose any minimum income requirements for this sort of lending has made our proposition compelling.

“What this new data shows is that the increase in interest in UK holidays is also having a knock-on effect on the demand for holiday homes, as well as their values with a year-on-year increase in price, and a year-on-year increase in applications to us at Hodge.

“Whatever the next year brings travel-wise, we see no sign of the interest in buying your own place by the sea or in the country waning, as there are still many people who are worried about travelling abroad, or who have seen the beauty in holidaying at home.”