The survey has been put together by Mortgages for Business which says that there was an average of 609 BTL mortgage products for landlords available - which is a fall from 863 in the previous month.
The products were available from 31 lenders and, the firm says, that the high levels of pricing competition is perhaps one reason for the drop in numbers.
They also point to the possible time lapse between a lender withdrawing a product and introducing a new one as also being be a possible reason for the fall.
However, the most likely reason is that the wide range of impressive BTL deals lead to high demand from landlords and, as a result, this competition led to lenders removing some products to help ensure they can deal with their workflows.
The BTL mortgage market analysed
When the BTL mortgage product market is analysed, 46% of the products available had a 75% LTV, a rise from 38% in March.
There are still higher LTV deals available; the survey reveals that 9% of BTL products have an 80% LTV while 1% have an 85% loan to value.
However, these deals have much stricter conditions than lower LTV mortgages and cost more to access.
Mortgages for business says that tracker and fixed rates are similar although when it comes to pricing, fixed-rate deals are deemed to be more competitive.
In their report, the firm says: “While the drop in products on a month by month basis seems huge, the reality is due to a larger time lapse between lenders introducing new rates and withdrawing old ones.
“The highly competitive pricing nature also means that some lenders have been inundated applications so more products have been withdrawn to help manage workflow.”
590 London landlords prosecuted
Meanwhile, a consultancy that specialises in licensing regimes has revealed that 580 housing prosecutions have been carried out in London.
The prosecutions were made under the Housing Act 2004 and were carried out over three years to March 2014.
The findings from London Property Licensing says that the number of prosecutions by Newham Council exceeds that for all other London boroughs combined.
They say that enforcement action in that area was stepped up dramatically following its borough-wide selective licensing scheme introduction in January 2013.
Councils in London, says the consultancy, are prosecuting landlords for failing to comply with improvement notices and prohibition orders as well as for failing to manage a HMO (house in multiple occupation) properly.
Landlords are also being prosecuted for failing to have the proper HMO license and failing to comply with their licence conditions and exceeding occupancy limits.
