Paragon Bank has reported a 25% increase in new buy-to-let lending for the first half of its financial year, underpinned by robust landlord demand and bolstered by the launch of a new originations platform.

In its half-year results for the six months to 31 March 2025, Paragon said it advanced £812.2 million in new buy-to-let loans, compared with £649.3 million during the same period last year. The bank’s mortgage loan book rose by 4.5% to £13.7 billion, with buy-to-let continuing to represent the lion’s share of that total.

The uplift in lending coincided with the full roll-out of Paragon’s new buy-to-let mortgage originations platform, designed to improve the broker experience with faster screening and earlier decisions. The system has already led to a more accurate pipeline and better application conversion rates, the bank said.

Louisa Sedgwick (pictured), managing director of mortgages at Paragon Bank, described the 25% rise in lending as a clear sign of sustained demand in the sector. “There remains an acute mismatch between supply and demand in the rental market and landlords are responding,” she said. “We were delighted to launch our new mortgage originations platform during the period, and we have enjoyed a fantastic response from our intermediary partners.”

Paragon said the new platform is allowing the lender to screen applications more effectively and give brokers faster decisions, which has improved the quality of its pipeline.

The bank also reported a low annualised redemption rate of 7.1% on its buy-to-let book and arrears of just 0.51% — well below the sector-wide figure of 0.85%. The average loan-to-value ratio for the buy-to-let portfolio remained unchanged at 62.8%.

Across the wider group, Paragon posted a 5.2% increase in pre-provision profits and a 2.1% rise in underlying profits, which reached £149.4 million. Total lending across the business climbed to £1.38 billion, an 11.4% year-on-year increase, with growth seen in development finance and SME lending alongside buy-to-let.

The bank’s total loan book now stands at £16 billion, up 4.9% from the same point in 2024.

Nigel Terrington, chief executive of Paragon Banking Group, said the business had delivered a strong performance despite ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty. “We delivered another strong financial and operational performance in the first half of 2025, reflecting our disciplined approach and consistent track record of execution,” he said.

“With strong momentum and a resilient business model, we are well placed to navigate the evolving external environment and remain optimistic about the remainder of the financial year and beyond.”