The Business Mortgage Company (TBMC) has reported that the majority of landlords are applying for buy-to-let mortgages in order to expand their portfolios, with 69% of applications during the past quarter being for purchases.

This comes as TBMC publishes its Landlord Profile Tracking Index for Q4 2009 which tracks and monitors changes in landlord demographics and identifies trends in the buy-to-let market. The index is based on data collected by TBMC’s specialist buy-to-let mortgage processing unit and is compiled on a quarterly basis.

Andy Young, CEO of TBMC, said that many landlords are choosing to stay on their reversionary rates rather than remortgage due to low interest rates.

He said: “There has been a significant change in the type of product being chosen by landlords. In Q4 2009 70% of applications were for tracker rates compared with only 45% in the previous quarter. This indicates that in Q3 2009 there was a fairly even split in the views of landlords about what would happen to interest rates